It most likely will be 2028 before the Falls Church Police Department learns if it has achieved national accreditation.
But Police Chief Shahram Fard has a prediction.
“I’m betting that we will,” Fard said as he presented his annual report to City Council members.
It was the second end-of-fiscal-year report for the chief, who assumed office in January 2024.
One of his goals since coming from the Alexandria Sheriff’s Office has been reaccreditation. Until 2023, the agency had been accredited by the Virginia Law Enforcement Professional Standards Commission.
That body is a program of the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services. About 110 public-safety agencies across the commonwealth participate in its accreditation program.
After the decision to stop participating in the state program, City Council members prodded staff to find an alternative.
“That was something that was on the Council’s mind a lot in the last few years,” Council member Justine Underhill said at the July 14 meeting, where Fard delivered his annual summation.
Last November, the city signed an agreement with the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) to begin the lengthy review process that can lead to national accreditation.
The commission was founded by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, National Sheriffs’ Association and other organizations as a credentialing organization. About 1,000 law-enforcement agencies are accredited, along with smaller numbers of campus-security agencies, communications agencies and training academies.
Fard said going with CALEA among various options was a change to ensure “the framework for addressing high-risk issues in the modern era that we see these days.”
Departments under review have to measure up against 170 different standards. To date, the Falls Church Police Department has been providing data and background information, and is updating its operations manual to meet requirements.
“This is going to be a three-year process,” Fard said. “When we get to the end of that three-year process, we’ll have an on-site evaluation by outside assessors. There will be community engagement, there will be community feedback. And at that point we’ll find out if we get accredited or not.”
According to the CALEA website, the accreditation fee for an agency the size of Falls Church’s police is $11,450, plus the costs of the on-site inspection. After the initial accreditation, there is a $4,065 annual fee to maintain the accreditation.
According to Fard’s annual report, the city’s police department has 39.5 sworn positions and a total of 58 employees. Its fiscal 2026 budget is about $13.5 million, up nearly 10% from a year before.
