Certification

The Normandy Police Department is now twice certified through the Missouri Police Chiefs Charitable Foundation (MPCCF) State Certification Program. The Normandy Police Department was the fourteenth (14th) in the state to accomplish certification. Accordingly, the Normandy Police Department routinely exceeds the minimum policing standards as set forth by the St. Louis Area Police Chief’s Association (SLAPCA) and the Missouri Municipal League (MML) in St. Louis County.  The certification program was created to establish a cost-effective way to improve and enhance law enforcement as a profession in our state. The standards of the certification were developed to reflect current, progressive thinking, modern policing methods and experience of law enforcement practitioners and researchers in Missouri.

The program is voluntary and is open to all law enforcement agencies in the state. It allows agencies to demonstrate their commitment to excellence in law enforcement and provides a process to systematically conduct reviews and assessments of their agency’s policies and procedures. Revisions and adjustments are made whenever necessary to meet and exceed accepted law enforcement standards.

MPCCF’s Certification Program currently consists of 198 standards and requires an agency to develop a comprehensive, well thought out, uniform set of written directives. It has proven to be a very successful method of defining and reaching administrative and operational goals, while providing clear direction to law enforcement team members. These standards provide the agency’s Chief Executive Officer with a proven management system, clear and effective written directives, sound training principles and clearly defined lines of authority and responsibility within their organization. They also focus on the creation of routine reports that support effective and efficient decision-making, resource allocation tasks and projections, and other necessary reports and analyses that a CEO needs to make timely, fact-based, informed management decisions.

The cost of the program is $5,000 for a three (3) year period.

Benefits are many and include, but are not limited to:

• Greater accountability within the agency. Participation strengthens an organization’s accountability both within the agency and their community, and through a continuum of standards that clearly define authority, performance and responsibility.
• Reduced risk and liability exposure by providing a stronger defense against civil lawsuits. Participation allows an agency to clearly demonstrate that recognized standards for law enforcement have been met and verified by a team of independent, MPCCF trained assessors.
• Provides for staunch support from government officials. Participation provides objective evidence of any agency’s commitment to excellence in leadership, resource management and delivery of professional services. Thus, government officials are more confident in the agency’s ability to operate efficiently and meet community needs.
• Provides increased community advocacy. Participation in the certification program embodies the precepts of community-oriented policing. It creates a forum in which law enforcement agencies and citizens work together to solve problems and prevent and address challenges confronting law enforcement, while providing for a clear, recurring dialogue on community needs and expectations.