METRO Police Marked as Prestigious "Flagship Agency"

The METRO Police Department (MPD) has just been awarded "Flagship Agency" status, along with being re-accredited after passing a rigorous review by its credentialing agency.

That makes MPD one of only five transit agencies in the nation that is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies Inc. (CALEA).

That means all of us who ride METRO should feel safer, knowing that MPD's force of 200 - including its K-9 officers - is meeting high standards and doing best practices.

The prestigious "Flagship Agency" designation means MPD has achieved a continuing level of excellence. 

"It is recognition of our people and their commitment to be the best that they can be, in not only meeting, but exceeding these national standards of performance for public safety agencies," said Chief Tom Lambert, who is also senior vice president of METRO's Department of Public Safety. "Meeting these standards has now become a part of our organizational culture."

In fact, "flagship" status means the department can now train other agencies and serve as a model.

MPD seeks re-accreditation every three years. It is one of 30 accredited agencies in Texas.

"Accreditation is a very involved process and forces organizations to challenge themselves and how they provide services to the community and conduct their overall responsibilities," said Lambert. "This is not easy and requires all levels of the organization to buy in to the process. We believe accreditation is worth the cost and effort."

MPD received its re-accreditation for the years 2007 to 2009 on July 31 at the CALEA conference in Las Vegas. It will retain "Flagship Agency" status until the spring of 2013.