The Lexington Police Department has Full Accreditation by the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission (MPAC) The Department meets 339 MPAC standards: 159 mandatory Certification standards 98 mandatory Accreditation standards 82 additional optional standards (65% of the 125 optional standards) Attaining this award shows the extraordinary steps the Department took “to demonstrate its pride and professionalism by living up to a body of critical law enforcement standards in areas of management, operations, and technical support activities to deliver quality police services to its community.” About the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Program: Massachusetts is one of 25 states that offer an accreditation program for its law enforcement community separate from the national Accreditation program. There are two steps to the award program: Certification and Accreditation, with accreditation being the higher of the two. There are no time limits or constraints imposed upon agencies by the Commission for achieving initial certification or accreditation. However, upon achieving an award, there is a three-year cycle to be re-assessed to maintain our status. For certification, the Department was required to meet 159 mandatory standards. For accreditation, we need to meet an additional 98 mandatory standards, plus at least 69 of the optional standards (55% of the 125 optional standards required of a Department with 1 to 50 Full-time, sworn officers). According to MPAC, achieving Certification or Accreditation Status Means: The agency is committed to meeting professional standards. The agency is willing to be assessed on a regularly scheduled basis by Commission-appointed assessors to confirm compliance with professional standards; and The agency agrees to correct any deficiencies discovered during the assessment process to establish or re-establish compliance with standards.