East Lyme ― The local police department, embracing the push for professionalism inherent in the state’s police accountability law, has become the first in southeastern Connecticut to earn enhanced accreditation through the Police Officers Standards and Training (POST) Council.

The department on Thursday earned its tier two accreditation from the state agency, joining Darien, East Windsor, Meriden, the University of New Haven and Westport.

POST accreditation program coordinator Jessica Blank said the sweeping police accountability bill signed into law by Gov. Ned Lamont back in 2020 established a requirement for all law enforcement agencies to be accredited through the state or the nationally recognized Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA).

The deadline for tier one accreditation is the end of this year.

“East Lyme went above and beyond and went to tier two,” she said.

That means the department met 124 standards all departments must adhere to under the police accountability law, plus 83 more standards that they are not yet required by law to meet.

Police Chief Mike Finkelstein said the accreditation process, led by Lt. Dana Jezierski, is all about making the department “the most efficient and transparent agency possible.”

He anticipated earning tier three status by next year, if not earlier.

Of the 10 departments across the state that have earned the highest, level three accreditation through the state, none are situated east of the Connecticut River.

Finkelstein said lawmakers made their priorities clear through the police accountability law.

“We’ve embraced that and are fully on board with making everything we do meet those high standards,” he said.

The first tier of accreditation addresses policies and procedures that need to be in place to make sure departments don’t get sued, ranging from when to put someone in handcuffs to when to use deadly force.

Twenty-one departments have earned their tier one accreditation in anticipation of the deadline at the end of this year, Blank said. She said the reason more departments don’t go for a higher accreditation level revolves around time and resources.

“It is difficult and quite daunting,” she said.

Beyond liability

The second tier requires agencies to put more plans in writing to streamline how the department operates internally, how officers interact with the community and how they recruit new members.

Those requirements go beyond the initial accreditation requirements that focused on avoiding liability.

“When you get to tier two, it’s more of getting outside of what typically a civilian would think about with policing, and really having them develop that human connection with people,” Blank said.

She pointed to a focus within the department’s recruitment plan to make sure the officers hired best represent the community they serve in terms of race and gender.

Finkelstein said the 30-member department, including two part-time officers, includes seven women. The police commission on Thursday authorized him to hire the eighth female officer.

He said the department has the highest percentage of female officers in this part of the state.

There is one Chinese officer and one mixed-race officer on the otherwise white force, according to the chief.

“Racially, we certainly could do better if people applied,” Finkelstein said.

Xiaochen Xu, who is fluent in Mandarin, was hired early this year and is currently among the first class of recruits at the fledgling Eastern Regional Police Academy in Norwich.

There are 25 agencies in Connecticut accredited through the rigorous, nationally-recognized Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies. In eastern Connecticut, those agencies are the Connecticut State Police, University of Connecticut police, and departments in East Hartford, Glastonbury and Manchester.

Finkelstein cited the cost of the national accreditation as the reason the department sought state accreditation instead. He said the state does not assess a fee for accreditation.

CALEA accreditation for a department the size of East Lyme is $11,450 initially and $4,065 annually after that.

He said the department spent almost $25,000 on legal fees during the two-year process as it worked with the Daigle Law Group, the police union and staff members to draft the policies and standards.

Finkelstein credited taxpayers, local officials and the police commission for supporting his focus on accountability and smooth operations. That includes funding for body cameras, more officers to wear them, and the new headquarters on West Main Street.

“It makes us a more attractive agency for people to work at; it makes us serve the community better,” he said.

e.regan@theday.com