The Tennessee Law Enforcement Accreditation Program awarded the Cookeville Police Department accreditation status for the third consecutive cycle.
Sergeant Logan Shrum said the program awards accreditation to departments every three years. Shrum said to receive accreditation the department has to follow 164 accreditation standards that are set by the program. Shrum said the accreditation goes hand in hand with the CALEA accreditation that the department has received since 1998.
“You know we’re used to having our standard operating procedures,” Shrum said. “We’re used to being held to a higher standard. We’re used to having or conducting annual analysis, biennial analysis, biannual analysis, and quadrennial analysis. So it’s just kind of a way of business for us you know that allows us to better serve the public and holds us accountable.”
Shrum said police departments across the state are not required to be accredited but the department strives to be accredited so it could be a trusted department. Shrum said having a third party evaluate the department’s procedures has ultimately made the department better.
“I think anyone could speak to it,” Shrum said. “If you look at your own work for so long you kind of become blind you know to maybe some things you could do better because you get into habits that work.”
Shrum said it takes the whole department to be on board to receive accreditation. Shrum said he has worked at the department for eight years and has seen the hard work that goes into being accredited.
“I would hesitate to say any single person doesn’t want to you know not only achieve that standard but then go beyond that,” Shrum said. “I literally had a conversation today with a gentleman that works for us now and he has worked for several different agencies. Whereas I have only worked for us, and he was adamant that Cookeville was the best.”
Shrum said he believes being an accredited police department reflects the effort the department puts into keeping the community safe.
The department received the honor at the Tennessee Association Chiefs of Police meeting in Nashville
