Accreditation

Mount Pleasant Police Department Achieves Accreditation

The Mount Pleasant Police Department is proud to announce it is now one of a select few law enforcement agencies in the state to achieve accreditation through the Wisconsin Law Enforcement Accreditation Group (WILEAG).

For three days in October, assessors from WILEAG were on-site at the Mount Pleasant Police Department examining the department’s policy and procedure, management, operation, and support service. 

 On November 11, 2022 the Wisconsin Law Enforcement Accreditation Group granted the Mount Pleasant Police Department full accreditation status. The accreditation lasts three years, after which time the department is then subject to the re-accreditation process.

 The department began working to achieve accreditation in early 2021. This is a rigorous agency accreditation program specifically tailored to the needs and capacities of law enforcement agencies since 1996 and has shown continuous growth in membership. Achieving accreditation status is a process whereby a law enforcement agency is evaluated on the existence of and its compliance with a prescribed set of over 250 standards. There are only 50 or so agencies out of nearly 525 statewide that have attained WILEAG accreditation.

There are many benefits of agency accreditation. The findings of the independent review, and achievement of accredited status provide:

• A well-deserved sense of professionalism and pride by the agency, the agency’s personnel and the community they serve.
• Communities gain security in the knowledge that their agencies are well managed and utilizing the best police practices in the State of Wisconsin.
• Prosecutors have the assurance that law enforcement operations and personnel are consistent and well directed.
• Local officials know that there is an independent review and evaluation of agency operations.

 The program standards are set by the WILEAG Governing Board. Standards cover virtually all key areas of agency operations and administration. The Governing Board is comprised of 16 members who come from leadership roles in Wisconsin law enforcement agencies as well as professionals from related disciplines. The WILEAG Governing Board confers accredited status after a review of the findings and upon the positive recommendations of the on-site assessment team. Assessors are respected, experienced law enforcement professionals (or recent retirees). They volunteer and are trained for the assessor role.

 Achieving accredited status is a multi-phase, self-paced process:

• Each agency adopts and implements the standards.
• Each agency does an in-depth self-assessment to determine readiness for the on-site assessment.
• The WILEAG assessment team conducts an on-site review and presents findings, as well as recommendations, to the WILEAG Governing Board.
• The WILEAG Governing Board grants accreditation to the agency or counsels the agency on the steps necessary to achieve accreditation.

Additional information on the WILEAG accreditation process can be found at: http://www.wileag.info/