Somerville Celebrates Police Accreditation Status

SOMERVILLE, MA — The police department has achieved accreditation status for the third consecutive month, Mayor Katjana Ballantyne and Police Chief Shumeane Benford announced.

Becoming state-accredited is a voluntary designation that police departments can choose to achieve. There are 274 mandatory standards a department must achieve accreditation, along with a plethora of optional standards. According to the city, Somerville met 85 optional standards, which is nine more than it was specifically required to be reaccredited in this instance. Somerville was in “self-assessment” prior to being accredited as it worked to meet all the standards. The process was led by Sargent Marc DiFava. Benford thanked DiFava for leading the effort in what he calls a major milestone.

“The designation recognizes our commitment to the highest industry standards and the importance of our policies and practices in upholding the values of our community through equitable, fair, and accountable police practice,” Benford said.