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City P.D. seeks accreditation

Marquette City Police Chief Blake Rieboldt, at podium, updates the Marquette City Commission Monday about the department voluntarily seeking a performance accreditation which is overseen by the Michigan Law Enforcement Accreditation Commission. From far left, lieutenants Mark Wuori and Ryan Grim, who were named MPD accreditation managers, stand next to two assessors — Dan Mills, senior deputy police and fire chief of Portage, and Heather McDonald, administrative sergeant from the University of Michigan-Flint Department of Public Safety — who arrived from the Lower Peninsula Monday. (Journal photo by Jaymie Depew)

MARQUETTE — The Marquette City Commission heard an update Monday regarding the city’s police department being the first in the Upper Peninsula seeking a performance accreditation.

Modeled after a similar program in New Jersey, the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police developed the voluntary law enforcement accreditation program for Michigan agencies, resulting in the formation of the Michigan Law Enforcement Accreditation Commission. Commissioners are appointed by MACP.

The program requires organizations seeking accreditation to adhere to more than 100 standards of practice that address what they should be doing to assure the best public safety service to its constituents and community members, according to the MACP’s Accreditation Process Manual.

“The foundation of accreditation lies in the adoption of standards containing a clear statement of professional objectives, while ensuring transparency and accountability,” the manual reads. “Participating agencies conduct a thorough self-analysis to determine how existing operations can be adapted to meet these objectives. When the procedures are in place, a team of trained assessors verifies that applicable standards have been successfully implemented.”

Lieutenants Ryan Grim and Mark Wuori of the Marquette Police Department were deemed accreditation process managers and have been working toward the goal along with staff for over a year.

“The MACP came up with 105 best practices in law enforcement,” Grim said. “We had to take a look at ourselves, a lot of internal reflection on our department, look through our policy and procedure manual, make sure that we were fitting those standards and if we didn’t — if there’s some that we’re lacking and a lot of it was documentation, some training and that kind of stuff — we delved in our policies to meet those 105 standards.”

Grim said officials arrived Monday to conduct the on-site portion of the assessment.

“They came up today to look at all our policies and procedures, do some ride-alongs with the officers, and just kind of analyze our department and make sure we’re meeting those standards that are put into place,” he said.

Heather McDonald, executive sergeant of the University of Michigan-Flint Department of Public Safety, said she was impressed by the MPD’s dedication.

“One of my initial observations in coming here this morning was the strong commitment and investment that all of the members of the Marquette City Police Department have in this accreditation process,” McDonald said.

The public had an opportunity to discuss their experiences with the MPD this morning by calling the assessors at the police department as a part of the accreditation process, said City Police Chief Blake Rieboldt.

“Once the assessors gain the information, they go back down (state),” Rieboldt said. “They prepare a written report for the commission and then ultimately it’s the commission’s decision whether or not to approve the agency for accreditation. So, it’s a little bit longer process, even after this on-site assessment, but we’re looking forward to that challenge.”

According to Rieboldt, only 12 other agencies statewide obtained the accreditation since it’s a fairly new program. He said there are about 30 agencies who are currently in “various stages” of the accreditation process.

Commissioner Jenn Hill commended the MPD for seeking the accreditation since it can be a “daunting” process that’ll eventually be “worth it.”

Commissioner Dave Campana said he hopes the community recognizes how important the accreditation would be for the community.

“It shows what a first-class police department that we have, will have and always have,” he said.

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