The campus police for University of Wisconsin have been awarded accreditation on the state level, constituting the second form of accreditation the department has received in the last year.

The Wisconsin Law Enforcement Accreditation Group voted to grant the UW Police Department accreditation Monday, which comes after UWPD was granted advanced law enforcement accreditation from another commission in March of last year, according to a UWPD statement.

UWPD Sgt. Aaron Chapin said this award is important for the department.

“Basically it shows consistency in policy and procedure, a level of professionalism and meeting of standards that a department has to display in order to win that award,” he said. “It is important from the standpoint of having standard procedures that are agreed upon by professionals throughout different lines of work.”

Chapin said in law enforcement, it is important to have consistent standards and make sure to demonstrate proficiency that meets set guidelines of practices.

According to the statement, accreditation programs like the WILEAG one are voluntary, and the UWPD is one of three agencies in Wisconsin with this specific accreditation.

The award will last for three years, Chapin said. He added the police department needs to prove compliance with the standards of the accreditation through items such as reports, community comments and other evidence. 

He said this evidence needs to show the department is still upholding the guidelines and meeting standards.

Chapin added that the process leading up to gaining the award was significant and took about three years. He said this involved a review process as well as having outside observers come in to compare the department to known standards.

According to the statement, the primary mission of WILEAG is to “offer a voluntary and affordable method of achieving professionalism through the accreditation of law enforcement agencies and to assist those agencies to better serve their communities.”

Chapin said having state accreditation is also indicative of meeting higher standards.

“On the national level and international level it shows compliance with standard practices as well,” he said.