{"id":12267,"date":"2025-05-09T09:56:48","date_gmt":"2025-05-09T14:56:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/?post_type=campus_story&p=12267"},"modified":"2025-05-09T09:56:48","modified_gmt":"2025-05-09T14:56:48","slug":"uw-whitewater-police-department-earns-national-accreditation","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/uw-whitewater-police-department-earns-national-accreditation\/","title":{"rendered":"UW-Whitewater Police Department earns national accreditation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

After an intensive three-year review process, the\u00a0University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Police Department<\/a>\u00a0received accreditation from a national program considered the gold standard within the profession.<\/p>\n

The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, or CALEA, has officially recognized the UW-Whitewater Police Department with its accreditation. It is one of only four departments in Wisconsin to hold the accreditation, and one of just two within the Universities of Wisconsin \u2014 the other being UW-Madison.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/p>\n

While law enforcement agencies have a number of different accreditation options available, UW-Whitewater Police Chief Matt Kiederlen said CALEA is considered the gold standard because of the depths involved in achieving such a certification, which included putting the campus\u2019 law enforcement officers through a battery of tests to ensure policies and procedures are being followed.<\/p>\n

Pictured right: Assistant Chief of Police Kelsey Servi speaks at a celebration to open the new academic year for staff and students on Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024.<\/em><\/p>\n

Kiederlen said the quest for CALEA accreditation has been years in the making and that credit goes to the department\u2019s small but dedicated command staff who roll up their sleeves each day to ensure UW-Whitewater\u2019s campus is safe, secure and a welcoming place for people from all backgrounds to grow personally and academically.<\/p>\n

\u201cAccreditation, in my opinion, sets the department up for success,\u201d Kiederlen said. \u201cIt gives us a nationally recognized set of standards that we can comply with and we will strive to uphold. It\u2019s a way for us to test what we\u2019re doing against what is considered the gold standards are, in terms of how you do things. It sets me \u2014 or any chief or executive, however you want to look at it \u2014 up for success.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the world of academia, Kiederlen said accreditation is a concept that is easily understood. The processes and standards the UW-Whitewater Police Department went through are similar to those a college or university undergoes for its academic programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a higher education environment, every college, everything that is done from setting up the classes to teaching, are evaluated by an outside organization that says, \u2018You\u2019re doing this right.\u2019\u201d Kiederlen said. \u201cIt\u2019s the same thing for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Matt
Matt Kiederlen, center, chief of the UW-Whitewater Police Department, and Dan Meyer, Chief of Police for the City of Whitewater, judge Polar Plunge participants to benefit Special Olympics Wisconsin at Cravath Lakefront Park on March 18, 2023. (UW-Whitewater\/Craig Schreiner)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThe intensive nature of CALEA\u2019s accreditation process is one reason it is considered such a high-caliber standard within law enforcement.<\/p>\n

CALEA\u2019s 21-member Board of Commissioners tests command staff on the policies and procedures on the agency\u2019s books and conducts interviews with a sampling of university staff and students, as well as community members, to gauge the department\u2019s effectiveness. Input from other nearby law enforcement agencies also is a part of the review process.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach community with CALEA-accredited agencies should feel confident that their public safety organization is going above and beyond and operating under the highest standards in public safety,\u201d CALEA President Marlon Lynch said.<\/p>\n

Kiederlen considers achieving the CALEA accreditation to be a professional milestone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a career goal, and the fact that we achieved this is outstanding,\u201d Kiederlen said. \u201cFor me, as the chief, I take a huge amount of pride that we have achieved this, knowing that this little department of 16 sworn officers has put itself in a place where it can deliver the best quality of service that we possibly can.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"UW-Whitewater
UW-Whitewater Police Officer Dan Kuehl, left, demonstrates roadside testing of drivers who are suspected of operating while intoxicated. Students in Criminal Justice 325 (forensic documentation) with Lecturer Pete Killoran began in the classroom on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2019, with instruction from Kuehl and then went outdoors to analyze a simulated drunken driving crash scene organized by Killoran<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cAchieving the accreditation is a worthy moment of celebration for the members of the UW-Whitewater Police Department, but the process of maintaining the designation will be continuous.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just, \u2018Once, and you\u2019re done.\u2019 They\u2019re looking at those policies, and they\u2019re looking for what are called \u2018proofs,\u2019\u201d Kiederlen said. \u201cThey want to know that we are abiding by those policies. It\u2019s a complete upgrade. It literally affects the daily processes of the department to ensure that you\u2019re doing it as best as you possibly can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kiederlen said he takes pride in knowing the police department has a strong foundation, heading into the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to set up the department for continued success.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"UW-Whitewater
UW-Whitewater Police Detective Cal Servi, left, and Officer Nic Thompson, right, guide Walworth County Sheriff’s Deputy Jocelyn Lawson in a step-climbing exercise at Cravath Lakefront Park in Whitewater on Wednesday, June 9, 2021, during an International Police Mountain Bike Association training course taught by Servi, Thompson and City of Whitewater officer Lt. David Gempler.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

Written by Dave Fidlin | Photos by Craig Schreiner<\/p>\n

Link to original story: https:\/\/www.uww.edu\/news\/archive\/2025-04-police-department-accreditation-story<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After an intensive three-year review process, the\u00a0University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Police Department\u00a0received accreditation from a national program considered the gold standard within the profession. The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, or CALEA, has officially recognized the UW-Whitewater Police Department with its accreditation. It is one of only four departments in Wisconsin to hold the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":12272,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[84],"story_category":[],"class_list":["post-12267","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-whitewater"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/12267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12267"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=12267"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=12267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}