GEORGETOWN – Police Chief David Sedgwick is pleased to report that the Georgetown Police Department has received reaccreditation from the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission (MPAC) for the seventh time.

The department was reaccredited on Wednesday, June 26. This means that the department has remained accredited every year since 2007. The department must apply for reaccreditation every three years.

Accreditation is a self-initiated, lengthy and comprehensive assessment process. Participating departments undergo an internal self-examination and an external evaluation by MPAC experts. The process is a voluntary assessment by which police departments attempt to achieve and maintain the highest standards of law enforcement. It is considered the best benchmark for a police department to compare itself to established best practices across the country and region.

The Massachusetts Police Accreditation Program consists of 257 mandatory standards and 125 optional standards. To achieve accreditation status, the department had to meet all applicable mandatory standards and 55% of the optional standards.

These carefully selected standards reflect key areas of police management, operations and technical support activities. They cover areas such as policy development, emergency planning, training, communications, property and evidence handling, use of force, vehicle pursuits, prisoner transport and detention facilities.

The reaccreditation process was led by Officer Courtney Thomas and Lt. Scott Hatch.

“I am pleased that our department has been re-accredited, meaning we have been accredited since 2007,” said Chief Sedgwick. “Everyone in the department, and especially our accreditation managers, deserve great praise. This is our best way to evaluate our department's policies and procedures against the best practices in law enforcement and ensure that we are providing our citizens with the most professional public safety services possible.”