Hoover Police Department earns national accreditation

After 3½ years of work, the Hoover Police Department this month earned accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies.

The accreditation indicates that the department meets 180 internationally accepted standards for law enforcement work. The department had to undergo a thorough review of its policies, procedures, equipment, facilities and community engagement practices and document that it is following its policies and procedures.

Nationally, only about 5% of all law enforcement agencies have achieved accreditation, and Hoover is among just 13 municipal law enforcement agencies in Alabama with CALEA accreditation.

“We were excited about it,” police Chief Nick Derzis said. “It’s been a very rigorous deal, especially with the pandemic in the middle of this thing. The main thing we want to do is — we want to be sure we are giving the citizens of Hoover the type of services they expect, and I want to make sure that we meet and exceed the expectations of the citizens we serve every day.”

Achieving the accreditation took work on behalf of every member of the department, particularly in terms of documenting department practices, he said.

The Hoover Police Department enrolled in the accreditation process in May 2019. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Alabama in 2020, that set the department back on everything it was trying to get done, Derzis said. It was a tough time for everyone, he said.

Lt. Matt Tomberlin was the department’s point person on its accreditation efforts most of the time, but he retired in August, and Lt. Katy Webb took over those responsibilities and saw it through to completion. It’s a full-time job keeping up with all the documentation, Derzis said.

The Hoover Police Department initially was seeking to achieve advanced accreditation, which would have required the department to meet 458 standards of excellence. But with the delays associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the department decided to seek the tier 1 accreditation, which involved 180 standards of excellence, Derzis said.

Department leaders will talk about whether they want to seek the tier 2 advanced accreditation, but “for right now, we’re happy with where we are,” Derzis said.

For the next three years, the department will have to file annual reports with CALEA to show that it still is meeting standards and maintain its tier 1 accreditation status, Derzis said. After four years, it must go through a more rigorous process to get reaccredited.