Tennessee Law Enforcement Accreditation Program

It is no secret that Public Entity Partners encourages and supports professional standards. The Tennessee Law Enforcement Accreditation (TLEA) Program, created under the authority of the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police (TACP), sets professional standards and focuses on professional accountability, management and operations for law enforcement. 

Last week, the Professional Standards Committee met as part of the TACP meeting, and announced the Tennessee law enforcement agencies that have achieved and maintained accreditation through the TLEA Program. 

Within the TLEA accreditation process, several required benchmarks are related to high-exposure law enforcement liability areas, including use of force, search and seizure, and pursuit driving. Public Entity Partners applauds the law enforcement agencies that work to better serve their communities by committing to professional standards.

The Professional Standards Committee is co-chaired by Randy Brackins with the Gatlinburg Police Department and Blaine Wade of the Bristol, Tennessee Police Department. Michael Fann, President/CEO of Public Entity Partners, has served on this committee since the accreditation program’s inception a decade and a half ago, and says it has been a personal privilege and honor to help guide best practices.

“Public Entity Partners’ engagement with the police chiefs and this program is critically important,” Fann said. “The Professional Standards Committee has driven the development, promotion, launch and review of the TLEA Program, and Public Entity Partners’ efforts to improve policy and practice in law enforcement is further supported by our Board of Directors’ decision to provide an annual Accreditation Incentive for those police agencies that reduce their annual Law Enforcement Liability premium by $100 per sworn officer. This results in improved practices by Tennessee's police agencies, as well as significant annual savings for Tennessee taxpayers.”

According to the TLEA Standards Manual, “The benefits to the community are that accreditation increases the law enforcement agency's ability to prevent and control crime through more effective and efficient delivery of law enforcement services to the community it serves. Accreditation enhances community understanding of the law enforcement agency and its role in the community as well as its goals and objectives. Citizen confidence in the policies and practices of the agency is increased. Accreditation, in conjunction with the philosophy of community policing, commits an agency to a broad range of programs (such as crime prevention) that directly benefit the public.”

The complete TLEA Standards Manual can be viewed on TACP’s website. More information about the accreditation program can be found here.

The following Public Entity Partners members have completed TLEA Accreditation (listed in the order in which they were accredited):

1. McMinnville PD
2. Bristol PD*
3. Dyersburg PD*
4. Morristown PDF
5. Sevierville PD
6. Gatlinburg PD
7. Springfield PD
8. Johnson City PD
9. Collierville PD*
10. Bartlett PD*
11. Elizabethton PD
12. Cleveland PD*
13. Maryville PD*
14. Martin PD
15. Murfreesboro PD
16. Jackson PD
17. Shelbyville PD
18. Waverly PD
19. Millington PD
20. Germantown PD
21. White House PD
22. Red Bank PD
23. Gallatin PD*
24. Brentwood PD*
25. Ashland City PD
26. Spring Hill PD
27. Clinton PD
28. Columbia PD*
29. Lenoir City PD
30. Cookeville PD
31. Greeneville PD
32. Hendersonville PD
33. Signal Mountain PD
34. Jefferson City PD
35. Oak Ridge PD
36. Belle Meade PD
37. Alcoa PD

The * represents agencies that are also accredited by CALEA, the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc.