The Horsham Township Police Department has maintained its status as an “Accredited Law Enforcement Agency” since 2003.
The Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association (PCPA) introduced the Pennsylvania Law Enforcement Accreditation (PLEAC) Program in 2001. The PCPA developed 132 standards that have to be met by any law enforcement agency within the Commonwealth if the agency desires to become accredited.
The Pennsylvania program currently has 140 professional standards that must be met in order to become an accredited police department. To meet these standards, a department must first have policy in place that addresses all 140 standards and 100 sub-sections of these standards. After these policies are in place, the department must then prove it complies with and follows its policies. This is achieved through proofs of compliance such as police reports, photos, videos, observation and interviews, to name a few. These proofs of compliance must cover the previous 12-month period. When the department has built the required files and feels it is in compliance with all standards, it requests an assessment of the department. The assessment is done during a two-day period by three law enforcement professionals from across the state. The assessment team then provides a written report to the Pennsylvania Law Enforcement Accreditation Commission that will, with a positive report, award accreditation to the police department.
The Horsham Township Police Department received accreditation from the Pennsylvania Law Enforcement Accreditation Commission beginning in 2003 as one of the first townships to be accredited in Pennsylvania. Since then, the Police Department has completed a reassessment in 2006, 2009, 2012 and 2015. Currently, there are only 101 Police departments that are state accredited out of over 1,200 police departments in Pennsylvania.
Chief Ruxton was a member of the original Accreditation Commission and rose to the position of Chairman for the State of Pennsylvania. Chief Daly, Lieutenant Gerrard and Lieutenant Potts served as mentors to other police departments accreditation managers wishing to get their departments accredited.