The Great Barrington Police Department is the first police department in Berkshire County to achieve full State Accreditation from the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission (MPAC). The department received their award in May 2017.
Accreditation is a long and vigorous self-initiated evaluation process by which police departments strive to meet and maintain the highest standards of law enforcement practice. It is considered the best measure of a police department against the established best practices around the country and region, and involves both an internal self-review and an external assessment by the commission’s team of experts.
The MPAC program requires that departments meet all the mandatory standards and percentage of the optional requirements. These carefully selected measures include: Jurisdiction and Mutual Aid, Collection and Preservation of Evidence, Communications, Working Conditions, Crime Analysis, Community Involvement, Financial Management, Internal Affairs, Juvenile Operations, Patrol Administration, Public Information, Records, Traffic, Training, Drug Enforcement and Victim/Witness Assistance.
The commission offers two program awards: certification and accreditation, with accreditation the higher of the two. Accreditation is granted for a period of three years.