Accreditation

Accreditation Process Manual
Accreditation Procedures Manual

Please Refer to the PowerDMS site for the most updated Standards Edition.

There have been some recent changes to the Utah Law Enforcement Professional Standards Accreditation Program that we want everyone to be made aware of. 

To improve program consistency and efficiency, we worked closely with PowerDMS to negotiate discounted pricing on the PowerDMS accreditation tool. We will be requiring all agencies to utilize PowerDMS for their accreditation files starting September 1, 2021.  This will include assessments, yearly reports, updates, and any other information required for accreditation status.

UCOPA Documents

PowerDMS will eliminate the need for paper and printing costs and will allow for remote file review, cutting down on onsite days. 

Additionally, the use of PowerDMS has been shown to reduce the time it takes an agency to build and maintain files by 50% or more. Ultimately, we see this as an opportunity to make achieving and maintaining accreditation easier and less cost prohibitive for every agency.

  • Agencies with less than 50 employees will pay PowerDMS $550 per year. 
  • Agencies with more than 50 employees will pay PowerDMS $650 per year.
  • Funding sources for accreditation are still available through your risk management if you are covered by:
    • Utah Local Governments Trust
    • URMMA (Utah Risk Management Association)
    • Olympus (Also pays for PowerDMS)

We are in discussions with the risk management agencies to fund PowerDMS along with the accreditation fees and we will keep you informed as to the progress.

If you are not covered by one of the above agencies, please let us know your risk management agency and we will make contact with them to encourage assistance in the accreditation process.

We are working on a program to provide assistance for purchase of PowerDMS through a funding source sponsored by the Utah Chiefs of Police Association, especially for small departments with limited resources.  

In addition we would encourage departments to apply for the DOJ grant funds that have been released to assist departments in the accreditation process.  That information was sent out to all chiefs along with information from PowerDMS on how to apply.  Please contact me if you need further information. 

Please note that the accreditation review committee met and the new updates are now available and will be sent out shortly. All accredited agencies will need to update their accreditation standards and reflect that in the yearly report in January 2022. These updates have also been sent to PowerDMS for inclusion in the standards.

We understand this may come as a surprise to some agencies, so we want to make this transition as smooth as possible. Here are a few things that are important to know if you are considering accreditation or beginning the process:

  1. If you are already using PowerDMS for your accreditation, you will see a price decrease at your next renewal.
  2. To get access to PowerDMS, you will need to do the following:
    1. Visit https://simplify.powerdms.com/accred-custom-quote and complete the form
    2. Receive a quote from PowerDMS based on the above mentioned costs and contract
    3. Sign the quote and send it back
    4. Receive access to PowerDMS within 48 hours of sending back the signed quote
    5. Pay your invoice within 30 days of the signed quote

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.

Kind Regards,
Val Shupe
Executive Director