Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Law Enforcement Professionalization: The Accreditation Of Law Enforcement, Angel D. Geoghagan

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Rapid social change has led many law enforcement agencies to explore various options that would serve to enhance service delivery, department credibility within communities, and overall professionalism. From a historical perspective, professionalism has been an elusive state for law enforcement agencies ever since the inception of the first police department. A search for such professionalism has taken a turn toward accreditation. Accreditation for law enforcement was studied to determine if the process enhanced the perceived level of credibility and professionalism enjoyed by police departments in the southeastern states of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Three hundred …