Hellam Township Police Department has a new reason to be proud. The department recently achieved accreditation through the Pennsylvania Law Enforcement Accreditation Commission (PLEAC). "It's quite an accomplishment to earn accreditation," said Lt. Drew Heistand. "Only about 16 or 17% of departments in the state are accredited."

The department, which has 12 full-time officers and one school resource officer, began the accreditation process a few years ago and finished in late summer 2022. "To be accredited, we had a set of standards we had to work toward," explained Courtney Bullman, administrative assistant and accreditation manager in training. "It's things like ensuring we're providing the correct type of response and all officers are following the correct procedures. It's making sure all of our policies meet the standards. We reworked any that didn't."

The police building, located at 35 Walnut Springs Road, York, was also upgraded to include new security features that promote both officer safety and citizen safety, Bullman noted.

"One of the main focuses for us is, if we bring people into our station, we want to be sure they're safe," Heistand explained.

The standards for accreditation are very detailed, Bullman said. They include specifics such as when officers may use their lights and sirens, how and when use of force is appropriate and when body cams must be turned on. Handling of evidence is also a major part of the standards, Heistand noted, adding that all evidence must be processed the same way, packaged correctly and handled correctly. "It's a very uniform process we have to follow," he said. "For everything, it doesn't matter if it's a big department like the Philadelphia Police Department or it's the Hellam Township Police Department. The standards are the same."

Although the department was eager to achieve accreditation, it took time and effort to reach the goal. "It was a bit of a learning curve for the officers," Heistand said, "but they were all on board. They want to be better, too. They were worried about the paperwork, because they thought there was going to be more than there was."

Being an accredited department helps the Hellam police achieve a major goal, Heistand said. "It's important that the community knows we have a standard," he stated. "We have a specific set of rules we're following. It gives us a sense of transparency and helps build trust. Our institution is devoted to showing the public we are going above and beyond in everything we do."

PLEAC will recheck the department every three years to make sure standards are being followed and to recertify the accreditation, and Heistand welcomes the opportunity to demonstrate that the department takes the achievement seriously. "Accreditation makes us more accountable," he said. "We can feel confident that we're not only saying we know what we're doing, but we are showing, it too."