2012 marks the 10th anniversary of the Federal Law EnforcementTraining Accreditation (FLETA) Board. The FLETA Board began theyear-long celebration at the July Board meeting in Glynco, Georgiawhere a message of congratulations from the Honorable Barack H. Obama,President of the United States of America was read, launching theanniversary. In addition, the Congressional Record from the House ofRepresentatives by Congressman Jack Kingston of Georgia was read to theattendees paying tribute to the FLETA’s accomplishments andmission.
Since the establishment in 2002, the FLETA Board has achievedsignificant progress in its key missions: to enhance the quality offederal law enforcement through a set of standards for federal lawenforcement training; to administer the accreditation process for allfederal law enforcement training; and to instill public confidence infederal law enforcement through compliance with the standards. TheFLETA Board marked the anniversary during the July meeting whereseveral federal academies and programs were reviewed for initialaccreditation and reaccreditation.
“FLETA is about standards that all federal law enforcement trainingis evaluated against, meeting those standards, and improving how ourfederal agents, officers, and other personnel perform,” stated DonaldR. Webb, FLETA Board Chairperson. The FLETA Board awarded the firstaccreditation in 2005 to the Department of State. Since then, more than60 federal law enforcement training programs and 15 federal lawenforcement academies have achieved FLETA accreditation.
Agencies voluntarily submit to the FLETA process for each program oracademy seeking accreditation. FLETA is a cyclical process thatincludes: comparing agency processes against the FLETA Standards;identifying and making improvements; submitting to an assessment by ateam of qualified FLETA assessors; submitting to a secondary review bya FLETA Board Review Committee; and a final review by the full FLETABoard who makes the determination of accreditation. If the FLETAprocess identifies deficiencies, the agency is required to develop acorrective action plan that the FLETA Board monitors for completion toensure compliance with the standards.
Once a program or academy is awarded FLETA accreditation, the agencysubmits yearly reports to the FLETA Board and begins the process overin preparation for reaccreditation. Reaccreditation occurs every threeyears and is a fresh and independent review of the academy or programto ensure continued compliance with the FLETA Standards. Currently 15federal academies have achieved academy accreditation:
· U.S. Air ForceSpecial Investigations Academy
· U.S. Army MilitaryPolice School
· U.S. Coast GuardMaritime Law Enforcement Academy
· U.S. Customs andBorder Protection Field Operations Academy
· U.S. Department ofState, Diplomatic Security Service, Office of Training and PerformanceStandards
· U.S. Department ofVeterans Affairs Law Enforcement Training Center
· The DrugEnforcement Administration Office of Training
· The Federal Bureauof Investigation Academy
· The Federal LawEnforcement Training Centers
· The InternalRevenue Service National Criminal Investigation Training Academy
· The Naval CriminalInvestigative Service Training Academy
· U.S. PostalInspection Service Career Development Unit
· U.S. SecretService James J. Rowley Training Center
· The TransportationSecurity Administration Federal Air Marshal Service Training Center
· U.S. TreasuryInspector General for Tax Administration Training Academy
A full listing of FLETA accredited programs is available by visitingthe FLETA website. The Office of Management and Budget directed theestablishment of FLETA as the accrediting body for all federal lawenforcement training. More information on the FLETA process andbenefits is available at www.FLETA.gov,or by calling the FLETA Office of Accreditation (912) 261-3684.