Fairview Police Department meets state accreditation standards

Agency second in county to take on practices assessment

By Shannon Wells

The Gresham Outlook, Mar 10, 2010

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When Fairview Police Chief Ken Johnson joined the department, there was no streamlined way for a citizen to file a complaint against – or a compliment supporting – an officer.

“To file a complaint, you had to call up the department, leave a voice mail and wait for someone to get back to you,” Johnson noted.

Now, all a citizen has to do is visit the department’s Web site, click under the “forms” heading and fill in the required information.

“That’s one very visible change,” he said, “and a required standard to become accredited.”

After five years of scrutinizing practices and procedures, dotting Is and crossing Ts, the Fairview Police Department in February officially became a state-accredited law enforcement agency. The 23rd Oregon agency to become accredited since the program commenced in 2001, Fairview joins the Troutdale Police Department as the only accredited agencies in Multnomah County.

The Oregon Accreditation Alliance describes accreditation as a “voluntary, self-motivated approach” for law agencies to continually measure and improve their quality of practices and procedures against an established, contemporary set of professional standards.

“It protects us from litigation,” Johnson said of accreditation’s more practical aspects. “It will have an impact on our liability rates because it cuts down on lawsuits.”

A joint effort of the Oregon Association of Chiefs of Police, Oregon State Sheriff’s Association and the Oregon Association of Public Safety Communications Officers, the accreditation alliance comprises representatives from each body who oversee and administer the program.

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