July 10, 2000

BIRMINGHAM, AL — The UAB Police Department received high marks and a recommendation for re-accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies Inc.

The inspection report issued by CALEA said the UAB Police Department’s performance evaluation standards, designed to improve officer and staff performance, “far exceeded the requirements,” and that the department “has been very assertive in creating opportunities” for crime prevention programs and other activities. The full CALEA commission will vote on the recommendation Saturday, July 29, during a meeting in Schaumburg, Illinois.

“This report catapults us to a whole new level of professionalism,” said UAB Chief of Police Harry Marzette. “The officers and staff in our department have stepped out and said ‘we are the best.’ We will now have to live up to it, which will not be a problem for us.”

The report gave the UAB police department high marks in several other areas, including its community policing efforts through bicycle and mounted patrols, its criminal investigations, training, communication center and its program to assist crime victims and witnesses through the court process. The CALEA inspectors also recommended the police department’s anti-substance abuse program for children, the UAB Drug Store, for an Exemplary Project Status award.

CALEA is an international law enforcement accreditation program that sets the standards for police stations across the United States and Canada. Nearly 440 law enforcement agencies are fully accredited by CALEA. The UAB Police Department has been accredited by the CALEA since 1995.