On January 9, the public hearing on Manchester police department’s CALEA accreditation was held. CALEA is the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies. Agencies seeking certification must pay CALEA for the process, which is administered by current and former law enforcement officers. CALEA certification is primarily intended for larger departments, and aids the department in insuring itself against liability. The biannual hearing is open to anyone with input, positive or negative, on whether a police department should be given passing certification. A quick Google search does not reveal evidence of a department ever having failed the CALEA certification process.
In the past, such hearings have been better attended by critics of departments. With this year’s hearing falling the night before the New Hampshire presidential primary, I was not surprised that I was the only voice critical of MPD at the event. I spoke about the Chalking 8 incident, which I had been swept up in and later found not guilty of two bogus criminal charges.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=75XDsDwvvBc
The hearing was well attended by friends of the MPD. Many of the speakers represented various government agencies, both state and federal, who had worked with Manchester police in the past and had nothing but positive things to say. You can see the full 1.5 hour hearing linked below.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=iUOHUjqkZR8
This article was originally published at freeconcord.org.
