Officer Eva Ku, a member of the campus force since September 2005, stands before one the current police vehicles.
Photo by Steve Nelson

Cal State Fullerton University Police Receive National Accreditation

Designated Flagship Agency for Extraordinary Example of Excellence

December 3, 2007

By Pam McLaren

Cal State Fullerton’s University Police Department has been reaccredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies Inc. The department was awarded a full three-year accreditation Nov. 17 at the commission’s winter meeting in Colorado Springs.

In addition, the campus police force was named a Flagship Agency, designating it an “extraordinary example of excellence in an accredited law enforcement agency.”

When first accredited in 2001, Cal State Fullerton police department was the first in the CSU system to be accredited by the commission.

“This is a highly prized recognition of law enforcement professional excellence,” noted Chief Judi King. “We are proud to have achieved both reaccreditation and recognition as a Flagship Agency, as acknowledgement of the high quality of the service provided by our employees to the campus community.”

As part of the accreditation process, assessors from the Fairfax, Va., organization visited the campus in August, at which time they held a public hearing and an on-site assessment of all aspects of the department’s policy and procedures, management, operations and support services to verify that the university meets the commission’s standards.

In its report, the assessment team commended Chief King on the implementation of an active shooter and evacuation plan and the campus department’s relationship with other agencies, use of communications technology and overall vision for the department. The assessment team also commended the university’s emergency notification efforts.

Noted in the assessment was the planned new university police building, which received funding approval this month from the California State University Board of Trustees. Construction on the new 10,460 gross-square-foot facility, which will be located off State College Boulevard just south of the existing facility, is expected to begin next month with completion in early 2009.

Of University Police’s 33 full-time employees, 22 are sworn police officers who have received training through accredited police academies. They operate with similar responsibilities and authority as officers in municipal and county law enforcement agencies.

Members of the assessment team were: team leader Susan E. Wales, retired from the Salisbury, N.C., Police Department; Sgt. Donald J. Jones of the Lemont, Ill., Police Department; and John M. Boal, associate professor of criminal justice technology at the University of Akron, Ohio.

“Our common goal,” said King, “is to assure that our campus is a safe place to study, teach, work, reside and visit."