MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Manchester Police Department took a step toward reaccreditation on Monday night as a pair of assessors from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) listened to public input regarding the department’s standards and practices.
Manchester’s Police Department has been accredited for over two decades and is one of 18 law enforcement agencies accredited by CALEA in the state of New Hampshire.
Manchester NAACP President James McKim singled out Manchester and Nashua, which is also among the 18 accredited agencies, as templates for how police departments should act.
While McKim said that many of his organization’s members are not comfortable with the overall state of policing in America and that the standard for implicit bias in policing is evolving, he said that his interactions with the Manchester Police Department and its willingness to learn and grow meant his opinion for the assessors was a positive one.
McKim also added that CALEA accreditation was noted as a significant step toward improving law enforcement agencies during a commission held at the state level that was commissioned by Governor Sununu following the death of George Floyd.
“We believe that CALEA accreditation is important for as many law enforcement agencies in the state to have as possible, and we’ve held up Manchester and Nashua as examples of exemplary forces who have obtained accreditation and look to help other departments,” he said.
Joseph Hoebeke, Chief of Police for the Hollis Police Department and recently elected President of the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police, also gave praise during the hearing.
“I believe accreditation provides us with a rigorous set of standards to ensure best practices and I see it in the way Manchester PD conducts their business every day,” said Hoebeke. “No agency is perfect and I think you’d find that any chief executive officer, including (Manchester Police Department) Chief (Alan) Aldenberg would tell you that, I think you would find it difficult to find one that is. But what is important is that agencies strive for perfection and I can tell you Manchester PD does that.”
Only one other person provided testimony during the hearing, Manchester resident Laura Mick. She said that she believes that the Manchester Police Department generally does a good job, but had concerns about consistency. However, she did not have any comments when asked by the assessors regarding her opinion of how the department was approaching its commitment to upholding CALEA guidelines.
