Needham Police Seek Accreditation
December 13, 2024
• In pursuit of accountability, professionalism and modernized policies, the 47-person department hopes to achieve accreditation in the coming months.
The Needham Police Department aims to become one of 118 other agencies accredited by the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission. The NPD must comply with 340 total standards — 274 mandatory and 66 optional ones, based on the department size — to reach that status.
Since beginning the process about two years ago, the NPD has created an additional 50 policies, Accreditation Manager Lt. Belinda Carroll said. After a mock assessment, agency tour and assessment, revision and further documentation, the department’s accreditation is now up for a vote in the commission. The NPD expects to learn of their status either at the end of December or early January.
Through accreditation, police agencies intend to keep up with current laws and updated practices, Carroll said. Use of force and de-escalation tactics have evolved to better serve the community — how to approach individuals, use weapon systems and adapt to police reform have altered the policing world for the better, Carroll said.
“I think in today’s world, because policing has changed so much, there is a level of professionalism and accountability that society should have from us,” Caroll said, “and so that’s why, under Chief [John] Schlittler, he really wanted to push getting accredited and with that, just foster a good partnership with our community.”
Wellesley, Dedham, Norwood and 115 other policing agencies have earned accreditation, and 27 departments — including Needham — are undergoing self-assessment. Another 11 agencies earned certification, which requires fewer standards to be met.
After assuming the role of chief in 2015, Schlittler said accreditation was a top priority, but the functionality of the old Public Safety Building made that difficult. Their cell blocks failed state inspections due to their age, Schlittler said, and concerns with their evidence room prevented the department from seeking accreditation until 2022, when the new station opened.
Meeting more than 300 policies is an involved process but one that ensures the department is held “to the highest standard,” Schlitter said. Agencies are re-accredited every three years.
“These policies are good. It protects our officers, it protects the public, it protects the town,” Schlitter said. “They’re there for a reason, and this will really get us on a schedule to maintain that which, it’s difficult, but it’s the right path going forward.”
De-escalation has become a central focus in policing after tragedies tied with no-knock warrants as well as the heightened occurrence of mass shootings — MPAC Executive Director Rick Rathbun also pointed to the widespread response to the murder of George Floyd and how agencies responded by reexamining their use-of-force policies. Massachusetts law prohibits chokeholds.
In accredited agencies, officers acting illegally or outside their authority would be better held to account, Rathbun said.
“You can’t prevent someone from doing something. You hope you have a culture and an ethics strength that people will do the right thing,” Rathbun said. “I think sometimes, in my world, people automatically see an act by an individual officer and assume that that is automatically a violation of the accreditation standards. Now, if it’s a violation of written directive, our expectation is the agency will hold the officers accountable.”
MPAC could revoke accreditation should a policing agency not appropriately respond to such a violation, Rathbun said.
NPD’s community outreach officer, working alongside a clinician, will follow up after mental health and domestic calls to ensure people “get the intervention that they need,” Carroll said.
As standards change, so will the NPD, Carroll said.
“It’s a journey, it’s not a destination,” Carroll said. “It’s continuous, and everyone here is part of it.”
As they “adapt to our changing world,” police have focused slightly away from enforcement and toward community engagement, Schlittler said.
“Back in the days, you were judged on how many cars who stopped, how many arrests you made and so forth, and that was one of the main priorities,” Schlittler said, “but now we work with so many different partners to try and address the issues that may be causing crimes or causing the issues that individuals are going through.”
