The Federal Law Enforcement Training Accreditation (FLETA) Board and Office of Accreditation (OA) Staff are pleased to announce that OA Executive Director Gary Mitchell, Ph.D.,completed his Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration on April5, 2013. “It is my honor to recognize Dr. Gary Mitchell on this tremendous achievement,” stated Ron Ward, FLETA Board Chairperson. “Dr.Mitchell now brings his additional expertise in workplace violence tohis already extensive law enforcement and accreditation experience to support the FLETA process. The Board, Office of Accreditation, and community are fortunate to have Dr. Mitchell as part of our team”.
Dr. Mitchell began his law enforcement career with the St.Petersburg Police Department in 1975. He worked in all areas of the Department which included uniformed patrol, the detective division,and the administration bureau, retiring as the Assistant Police Chief after more than twenty-four years of service. In 1993, Dr.Mitchell began serving as a national and state assessor/team leader for on-site inspections of police agencies seeking law enforcement accreditation through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA) and the Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation (CFA). He was also a member of CALEA’s task force which developed the Third Edition of CALEA accreditation standards.
Prior to coming to FLETA, Dr. Mitchell was the manager of the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office’s, Law Enforcement Policy Development and Accreditation Division (LEPDA). As the Sheriff’s Office prepared for its 2006 on-site assessment, he developed a completely “paperless” process which allows the assessment teams toview accreditation materials on-line from any location.
Dr. Mitchell has a Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration,with a focus in organizational leadership. He has completed the Police Executive Research Forum’s Senior Management Institute for Police (SMIP) leadership program, along with the Cambridge Program in Risk Management for Churches and Schools.
The FLETA Board is the accrediting body for all federal law enforcement training and support programs. To achieve accreditation,agencies submit to an independent review of their academy and/or program to ensure compliance with the FLETA Standards and Procedures in the areas of: Program Administration, Training Staff, Training Development, and Training Delivery, with an additional 20 standards for Academies. Accreditation is a cyclical process occurring every three years. Each year, agencies must submit annual reports in preparation for reaccreditation, which is a new and independent review of the academy/program.