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Accreditation

About

Vanderbilt University Public Safety maintains national, international and state level triple accreditation through three governing bodies: CALEA (Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies), IACLEA (International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators), and TLEA (Tennessee Law Enforcement Accreditation).

Accreditation is a voluntary process and is not easy to achieve. VUPS was the first public safety agency in the state of Tennessee to gain accreditation from CALEA, IACLEA, and the state. VUPS is one of 25 college public safety agencies in the country that are accredited by CALEA and IACLEA but is the only college public safety agency that holds CALEA Law Enforcement accreditation, CALEA Public Safety Communications accreditation, and IACLEA accreditation.

 Accreditation is important at VUPS because it means:

  • VUPS has met or exceeded all standards within that accrediting organization. The standards provide an agency with best practices for policy, procedure and accountability. Each year VUPS must produce proofs of compliance for over 500 standards to maintain all four accreditations.
  • VUPS is committed at being a superior public safety agency that serves our community with excellence and professionalism.
CALEA
  • VUPS was initially accredited through CALEA in November 2009. 
  • Reaccreditation occurred in 2016 and 2019. 
  • VUPS is preparing for its next reaccreditation on-site inspection in 2023.
CALEA Communications
  • VUPS Communications Unit was initially accredited through CALEA in 2019.
  • VUPS Communications Unit next reaccreditation inspection will occur in 2023.
IACLEA
  • VUPS was initially accredited through IACLEA in 2010. 
  • Reaccreditation occurred in 2016 and 2020. 
  • VUPS is preparing for its next reaccreditation inspection in 2024.
TLEA
  • VUPS was initially accredited through TLEA in 2011. 
  • Reaccreditation occurred in 2017 and 2019. 
  • VUPS is preparing for its next reaccreditation inspection in 2023.

Accreditation Manager

The Accreditation Unit is led by Steven Engstrom