accreditation

Chief Paul Francis is proud to announce that the Essex Police Department earned accreditation from the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission. The years-long, self-initiated process includes rigorous independent review and evaluation by MPAC of the department’s compliance with 257 mandatory standards and 125 optional standards. To achieve accreditation status, the department must meet all applicable mandatory standards as well as 55 percent of the optional standards. An assessment team from MPAC visited the department in October of 2021, reviewing management, operations, technical support activities, policies, emergency response planning, training, communications, facilities, equipment, evidence handling, use of force, vehicular pursuit policies, prisoner