Three Law Enforcement Airborne Units Will Benefit

During the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) convention in Denver, Colorado, Tuesday, the Airborne Law Enforcement Accreditation Commission (ALEAC) accepted a $10,000 donation from American Eurocopter. The donation will be used to offset the cost of law enforcement air unit accreditation and will be presented to the first three qualifying agencies that successfully complete the accreditation process. The first agency to complete the process will receive a $5,000 rebate towards the cost of accreditation, the second agency will receive $3,000 and the third will receive $2,000.

The ALEAC was founded in 2002 for the purpose of developing professional standards for all airborne law enforcement units including local, state and federal governmental agencies. These standards have been adopted by the Airborne Law Enforcement Association (ALEA) as guidelines for starting new aviation units and as recommended best practices for review and adoption by all law enforcement aviation units.

Jim Di Giovanna, President of the ALEAC, is a retired captain and former unit commander of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department’s Aero Bureau.  “With the help of industry leaders like American Eurocopter, and through our Accreditation Program, we hope to work with the law enforcement community to institute an accepted set of ‘best practices’ that will be adopted by air units throughout the country and validated through our program of accreditation,” he explained.

The intent of the Accreditation Program is to encourage safe, efficient and accident-free aviation operations in support of law enforcement missions. “We support the work that the ALEAC is doing and their goals to improve operational standards and safety within the law enforcement community,” said Larry Roberts, American Eurocopter Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Customer Support. “Safety continues to be a top priority at American Eurocopter and we look forward to working with ALEAC in our joint efforts to promote safety throughout the industry.”

The Accreditation Program is designed to objectively evaluate and certify a law enforcement air unit's overall compliance with the standards for air units as developed and adopted by the ALEAC and ALEA. Airborne law enforcement units can apply for accreditation online through the ALEA website. Once the application is received, the unit will be required to complete a Unit Information Form and conduct a self assessment of their operation as compared to the standards. A team of assessors will conduct on-site assessments, thoroughly evaluating all aspects of the unit's operation. The assessors' findings will be presented to the ALEAC Board of Commissioners for final approval.

FMI: www.alea.org