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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Rick Taylor |
  
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House passes Taylor bill to assist police departments with accreditation
HARRISBURG, July 2 – The state House passed a bill sponsored by Rep. Rick Taylor, D-Montgomery, that would help police departments meet professional standards for operation.
The Taylor bill (H.B. 2548) would allow the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency to establish a grant program to assist the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association -- a Pennsylvania-based, nonprofit agency -- that accredits law enforcement agencies in the state.
In 2001, the PCPA established its Law Enforcement Accreditation Program. More than 260 law enforcement agencies have enrolled, with 54 achieving accreditation.
The association developed standards and procedures for local administrators to access their departments' existing operations and to determine how to meet the objectives for accreditation. The accreditation process allows independent law enforcement officials to determine the progress of departments toward meeting law enforcement standards, and certifying them when those standards have been attained.
Taylor said the grant program would be a substantial help to the PCPA's accreditation program.
"To have our police agencies strive to operate at the highest professional level benefits the public by introducing more effective and efficient law enforcement," Taylor said. "At the same time, it is to individual police officer's benefit, especially for their safety, to have these standards in place and followed."
The vote on Taylor's measure was 196-1. It now advances to the Senate for consideration.
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