In 1996, the Maui Police Department became the first law enforcement agency in Hawaii to receive national accreditation status from the Commission on Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies Inc. (CALEA). The initial process involved an agency profile, self assessment, on-site assessment and Commission review that took about six years due to facility renovation, equipment acquisitions, and policy revisions needed to meet CALEA standards. The period of accreditation is for three years. During this time, the agency must submit annual reports that document continuing compliance with applicable standards. The Maui Police Department was successfully reaccredited in July 1999 and is currently preparing for a second reaccreditation inspection next spring.

The Maui Police Department has for several years now embraced the pro-active/problem solving philosophies of Community Policing such as the Visitor Oriented Police unit that was funded by the Federal COPS Universal Hiring Program and implemented in April 1998. This program involves the assignment of one sergeant and five patrol officers to establish a community police type partnership with the visitor industry in Maui County to pro-actively address crime and other problems associated with the industry. The program has been very successful in assisting visitors who are victims of crime. Seldom a week goes by without receiving a thank you letter from a visitor for the assistance provided by the officers.

Our School Resource Officer (SRO) Program is just starting its third year in all of Maui's major high schools, including Molokai and Lanai. The program involves the assignment of an officer to each high school to establish community police type partnerships at the school with faculty, students, and parents in order to address problems identified at the schools.

The citizens Patrol Program was established in South and West Maui through Community Policing efforts. The program involves citizen volunteers who patrol beach parks that in the past were targeted by criminals who broke into cars most often operated by visitors.

Our Juvenile Division continues to implement a very successful program called the Positive Outreach Intervention (POI). The programs emphasis is immediate consequences to juveniles who violate the laws by providing community service work programs. So far the program has had more than 90 percent success rate in graduates not becoming re-offenders.