Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission to Observe Reading Police

The following is a statement released from the desk of Chief Mark D. Segalla:

Chief Mark D. Segalla is pleased to announce that a team of assessors from the

Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission is scheduled to arrive on

Tuesday August 2nd, to begin examining various aspects of the Reading Police

Department’s policies and procedures, operations and facilities.

Verification by the Assessment Team that the Department meets the

Commission’s standards is part of a voluntary process to gain state

Accreditation -- a self-initiated evaluation process by which police departments

strive to meet and maintain standards that have been established for the

profession, by the profession.

The Massachusetts Police Accreditation Program consists of 257 mandatory

standards as well as 125 optional standards. In order to achieve accreditation

status, the Department must meet all applicable mandatory standards as well

as 55% of the optional standards.

Achieving Accreditation is a highly prized recognition of law enforcement

professional excellence.