2012 marks the 10th anniversary of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Accreditation (FLETA) Board. The FLETA Board began the year-long celebration at the July Board meeting in Glynco, Georgia where a message of congratulations from the Honorable Barack H. Obama, President of the United States of America was read, launching the anniversary. In addition, the Congressional Record from the House of Representatives by Congressman Jack Kingston of Georgia was read to the attendees paying tribute to the FLETA’s accomplishments and mission.
Since the establishment in 2002, the FLETA Board has achieved significant progress in its key missions: to enhance the quality of federal law enforcement through a set of standards for federal law enforcement training; to administer the accreditation process for all federal law enforcement training; and to instill public confidence in federal law enforcement through compliance with the standards. The FLETA Board marked the anniversary during the July meeting where several federal academies and programs were reviewed for initial accreditation and reaccreditation.
“FLETA is about standards that all federal law enforcement training is evaluated against, meeting those standards, and improving how our federal agents, officers, and other personnel perform,” stated Donald R. Webb, FLETA Board Chairperson. The FLETA Board awarded the first accreditation in 2005 to the Department of State. Since then, more than 60 federal law enforcement training programs and 15 federal law enforcement academies have achieved FLETA accreditation.
Agencies voluntarily submit to the FLETA process for each program or academy seeking accreditation. FLETA is a cyclical process that includes: comparing agency processes against the FLETA Standards; identifying and making improvements; submitting to an assessment by a team of qualified FLETA assessors; submitting to a secondary review by a FLETA Board Review Committee; and a final review by the full FLETA Board who makes the determination of accreditation. If the FLETA process identifies deficiencies, the agency is required to develop a corrective action plan that the FLETA Board monitors for completion to ensure compliance with the standards.
Once a program or academy is awarded FLETA accreditation, the agency submits yearly reports to the FLETA Board and begins the process over in preparation for reaccreditation. Reaccreditation occurs every three years and is a fresh and independent review of the academy or program to ensure continued compliance with the FLETA Standards. Currently 15 federal academies have achieved academy accreditation:
- U.S. Air Force Special Investigations Academy
- U.S. Army Military Police School
- U.S. Coast Guard Maritime Law Enforcement Academy
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection Field Operations Academy
- U.S. Department of State, Diplomatic Security Service, Office of Training and Performance Standards
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Law Enforcement Training Center
- The Drug Enforcement Administration Office of Training
- The Federal Bureau of Investigation Academy
- The Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers
- The Internal Revenue Service National Criminal Investigation Training Academy
- The Naval Criminal Investigative Service Training Academy
- U.S. Postal Inspection Service Career Development Unit
- U.S. Secret Service James J. Rowley Training Center
- The Transportation Security Administration Federal Air Marshal Service Training Center
- U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration Training Academy
A full listing of FLETA accredited programs is available by visiting the FLETA website. The Office of Management and Budget directed the establishment of FLETA as the accrediting body for all federal law enforcement training. More information on the FLETA process and benefits is available at www.FLETA.gov, or by calling the FLETA Office of Accreditation (912) 261-3684.