Nevada Police Dept. earns accreditation

Chief Paul Williams, Police Chief for the Springfield, Mo., Police Department and Executive Board Member of the Missouri Police Chiefs Association, center, presented recognition of this achievement to Nevada Police Chief Casey Crain, right, and Nevada Police Lieutenant Steve Bastow, left.

On Aug. 14 at the regular session meeting of the Nevada City Council, the Nevada Police Department received formal recognition from the Missouri Police Chiefs Association for earning status as an accredited law enforcement agency.

For more than three years the Nevada Police Department has been working towards achieving accreditation status through the Missouri Police Chiefs Association’s Missouri Law Enforcement Agency Certification Program.

The Nevada Police Department’s purpose in pursuing this voluntary accreditation program has been to demonstrate the department’s commitment to professional excellence in law enforcement by ensuring adherence to the highest standards and best practices for law enforcement agencies.

The process for accreditation required an on-site assessment of agency personnel, property and records by trained assessors who were current or retired law enforcement executives from all over the State of Missouri. These assessors examined agency records and performance for the past three years to ensure compliance with all 237 standards that comprise the Missouri Police Chiefs Association’s Missouri Law Enforcement Agency Certification Program.

Chief Paul Williams, Police Chief for the Springfield, Mo., Police Department and Executive Board Member of the Missouri Police Chiefs Association presented recognition of this achievement to Nevada Police Chief Casey Crain and Nevada Police Lieutenant Steve Bastow, who manages the department’s accreditation program. The Nevada Police Department becomes the tenth law enforcement agency in the State of Missouri to have successfully achieved accreditation through this program.