The Cleveland Police Department was recognized Tuesday during an awards breakfast hosted by the Tennessee Municipal League. An award for Excellence in Police Service was presented to Chief of Police Mark Gibson, accompanied by Assistant Chief of Police Stacy Smith and Cleveland City Manager Joe Fivas on behalf of the Cleveland Police Department.
"It was an honor to be recognized by the Tennessee Municipal League for Excellence in Police Service. Our agency works tirelessly to pursue excellence in every objective we set to accomplish. These goals would not be attainable without our dedicated employees. We are proud to receive this award on behalf of the Cleveland Police Department staff and we thank them for all they do,"
said Chief Gibson.
The Cleveland Police Department has been accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies since 2009. In 2012, the CPD was accredited by the Tennessee Law Enforcement Accreditation. These organizations assess the department's policies and procedures for best practices. Participation with these agencies is voluntary and only 4 percent of law enforcement agencies nationwide are accredited by CALEA, according to officials. In 2018, CPD achieved the Gold Standard of Excellence, which is recognized as the highest award within CALEA. This achievement includes the Cleveland Police Department in the 1 percent of CALEA accredited agencies who achieve the gold standard. This achievement is acquired by complying with all written directives, applicable by the Cleveland Police Department and set forth by CALEA. The department is scheduled to be reaccredited by both accreditation agencies in 2022.
Chief Gibson said, "During my tenure as Chief of Police, our department's focus has been on creating a culture of professionalism through creative police recruitment strategies, continuous training and encouraging a high degree of integrity to serve the citizens of Cleveland with excellence. In our endeavor to improve our relationship with the Cleveland community, we established the Community Relations Unit. The objective of this unit was to increase interaction with the community through community events and establish a creative way to keep the public informed. Strategies to recruit, showcase officers, issue public safety announcements, and announce community events have proven to be effective using our agency's social media page, which has passed 35,000 followers. By these means, we have been able to improve our communication, reaching an optimum number of residents, and build a strong foundation for police and community relations. The CPD has hosted an average of 46 community events annually, one of many which has become successful and popular with our student population: The Cleveland Police Department Youth Police Academy. We have hosted thirteen (13) academies, thus far. In addition to our community events, we have taken great initiative to be involved in special events and in fundraising for special causes in our community. Officers participating in fundraisers, such as No Shave November, have allowed our department to give to the empty stocking fund pledge drive, individual needs of officers and community members.
"Gathering diverse opinions on a variety of law enforcement topics have prompted the forming of the Professional Standards and Ethics Committee. This committee is responsible for providing guidance on all matters affecting professional standards for law enforcement. Additionally, the Chief's Advisory Board is comprised of officers from each division who serve as a liaison for their respective team.
"Our dedication to provide the public with a high quality of service, initiated a training program committed to providing optimal training classes year-round. Training of this intensity offers Cleveland police officers and other outside agencies opportunities of over 1500 hours of specialized training. These training hours are in addition to the minimum 40-hours of required training by the Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission. In the past year, Cleveland officers have completed over 220 specialized schools focusing on investigations, de-escalation, mental health, crime scene management, and realistic scenario training. The caliber of training offered to the officers further progresses them in their progression plan of professional career development.
"To build a culture of wellness, the Cleveland Police Department Training Division has created a process to emphasize wellness throughout an officer's career. A fitness program was developed requiring a physical fitness test with successful completion annually. To assist the officer in preparing for the assessment, designated officers serve as fitness instructors and will provide nutrition plans and job-related cardiovascular exercises. A holistic wellness approach to address officer mental health provides Cleveland police officers with annual suicide prevention and PTSD classes, along with centralized mental health resources, the Employee Assistance Program and a rotational Chaplain Unit."