Texas Law Enforcement Agency Best Practices Recognition Program

The Law Enforcement Recognition Program is a voluntary process where police agencies in Texas prove their compliance with 166 Texas Law Enforcement Best Practices. These Best Practices were carefully developed by Texas Law Enforcement professionals to assist agencies in the efficient and effective delivery of service, the reduction of risk and the protection of individual’s rights.

While similar in nature to the national accreditation program, the Best Practices Recognition Program is easier to administer, lower in cost and is designed specifically for Texas Law Enforcement. The Texas Legislature demands a great deal of professional law enforcement in Texas and the Best Practices were specifically designed to aid Texas agencies in meeting those demands and providing the best quality of service to the people of our State. Since its inception in 2006, over 100 Texas Law Enforcement Agencies have been Recognized and many more are currently in the process to become Recognized Agencies.

The original standards were developed by a Task Force of Texas Law Enforcement professionals who had extensive experience in the law enforcement accreditation process.  Input was sought from numerous other state’s accreditation programs as well as a detailed review of Texas statues and rules of the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement.  The best practices represent the basic practices needed to address critical issues within the law enforcement profession in Texas.

The standards are organized into twelve chapters that correspond to major areas of law enforcement operations. These include: 

1. Administration and Organization
2. Professional Standards and Conduct
3. Training
4. Personnel
5. Records and Information Management 
6. Use of Force
7. Law Enforcement Operations
8. Unusual Situations
9. Communications
10. Arrestee Processing and Transportation 
11. Court Security 
12. Property and Evidence Management 

If you are interested in seeing the 2018 Best Practices Standards Manual, you can access it here.  

TMLIRP can provide funding for first year fees to member agencies that enter the TPCA Best Practices Recognition program. Funding is limited to TMLIRP members with workers’ compensation or liability. Funding is on a first come basis, with yearly update fees the responsibility of the member entity. If you are interested, download the application and send it to the TPCA. When the police department enters the Recognition program with a signed contract, the Association will forward the application to TMLIRP. 

For more information about the TPCA Law Enforcement Best Practices program, please contact your Loss Prevention Representative or visit the Texas Police Chiefs Association Foundation website at http://rp.tpcaf.org. 

#getrecognized

Check out the Program on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/texasrecognition/ 

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