Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission to examine Fall River Police Department for accreditation

Interim Fall River Police Chief Paul Gauvin has announced that a team of assessors from the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission is scheduled to arrive on February 1, 2022 to begin examining various aspects of the Fall River Police Department’s policies and procedures, operations and facilities.

Verification by the Assessment Team that the Department meets the Commission’s standards is part of a voluntary process to gain state Accreditation — a self-initiated evaluation process by which police departments strive to meet and maintain standards that have been established for the profession, by the profession.

According to Lt. Gregory Wiley, “the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Program consists of 257 mandatory standards as well as 125 optional standards. In order to achieve accreditation status, the Department must meet all applicable mandatory standards as well as 70% of the optional standards. Achieving Accreditation is a highly prized recognition of law enforcement professional excellence.”