Accreditation is a vital part of today’s Law Enforcement.  Accreditation programs set industry standards and best practices for law enforcement agencies throughout the nation and around the word. The benefits for departments achieving accreditation standards are; Improving agency efficiency by applying best practices, strengthening agency accountability, both internally and in the community and reducing liability risks by applying policies that are continually reviewed to meet the challenges in today’s courtrooms.

In 2009, The Hapeville Police Department achieved the State of Georgia Law Enforcement Certification, the state’s program for accreditation.  Since then, the department has set its sights on International Accreditation, a program developed and managed by CALEA, The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies.  The number of standards that must be met to achieve a CALEA accreditation is 480, compared to the 129 standards needed to achieve state certification.  Both require regular maintenance to ensure compliance.  Therefore, both require an individual assigned to manage the programs.

On December 4th 2012, Rosanna Dove was hired as Accreditation Manager for the Hapeville Police Department. Rosanna is widely respected within the law enforcement community for her knowledge of the industry and for her innovation of a paperless file system for accreditation programs.  Rosanna, a veteran officer of Peachtree City Police Department, left Peachtree City after a restructuring of the agency.  She completed an undergraduate degree from  Brenau University and a Graduate Degree from Columbus State University.   She’s currently working with the department on part time bases, putting in just under 30 hours a week, preparing the department for its upcoming onsite audit.