Liberty Police Department, Emergency Communications Center achieve CALEA accreditation, national ‘gold standard’ for public safety
November 21, 2025 : By - Office of Communications & Public Engagement
The Liberty University Police Department and the Department of Emergency Management & Community Engagement’s Emergency Communications Center were recently awarded national accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies Inc.
CALEA accreditation represents the highest standards in the industry and marks Liberty’s place among the top 5% of university law enforcement and emergency management organizations in the country. Liberty is one of eight university communications centers and 88 university police departments to achieve CALEA accreditation.
The accreditation status was officially awarded to Liberty’s departments during the Fall CALEA Conference, held Nov. 12-15 in Jacksonville, Fla. Representatives from each department sat for their Commission Review Committee Hearings on Nov. 15 before the accreditation status was awarded that night at the Celebration Awards Banquet. LUPD Chief of Police Gerald Irwin, Director of EMCE Jeff Hurtak, accreditation managers Sarah Fischer (EMCE) and Kendall Leavelle (LUPD), Vice President of Security & Public Safety Marcus Tinsley, and Associate Director of Emergency Management Chris Chambers were on hand to accept the honors.
“CALEA is widely considered the gold standard for public safety,” Tinsley said. “To achieve this accreditation means that those teams have exhibited the highest level of professionalism. … To have two separate departments in a university do that at the same time is basically unheard of.”
“This has been a three-year process to get to this great day,” he added, noting the accreditation followed a rigorous review process of hundreds of procedures and policies to demonstrate compliance with CALEA’s law enforcement and communications standards.
“As we move forward, everyone can note that Liberty takes public safety seriously; we focus on it with every fiber of who we are to ensure that Liberty is the safest campus possible. We prioritize public safety without exception, and this is just case in point proof of that.”
Liberty’s departments were among 124 public safety departments receiving CALEA initial accreditation or reaccreditation this year.
