Accreditation

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 and professionals from related disciplines. The WILEAG Governing Board confers accredited status after reviewing 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 its findings and 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/