The Federal Law Enforcement TrainingAccreditation (FLETA) Board and Office of Accreditation (OA) Staff arepleased 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 thistremendous 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 tosupport the FLETA process. The Board, Office of Accreditation, andcommunity 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 Chiefafter more than twenty-four years of service. In 1993, Dr.Mitchell began serving as a national and state assessor/team leader foron-site inspections of police agencies seeking law enforcementaccreditation through the Commission on Accreditation for LawEnforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA) and the Commission for Florida LawEnforcement Accreditation (CFA). He was also a member of CALEA’stask force which developed the Third Edition of CALEA accreditationstandards.
Prior to coming to FLETA, Dr. Mitchell was the manager of thePinellas County Sheriff’s Office’s, Law Enforcement Policy Developmentand Accreditation Division (LEPDA). As the Sheriff’s Officeprepared for its 2006 on-site assessment, he developed acompletely “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 PoliceExecutive Research Forum’s Senior Management Institute for Police(SMIP) leadership program, along with the Cambridge Program in RiskManagement for Churches and Schools.
The FLETA Board is the accrediting body for all federal lawenforcement training and support programs. To achieve accreditation,agencies submit to an independent review of their academy and/orprogram to ensure compliance with the FLETA Standards and Procedures in the areas of: Program Administration, Training Staff, TrainingDevelopment, and Training Delivery, with an additional 20 standards forAcademies. Accreditation is a cyclical process occurring every threeyears. Each year, agencies must submit annual reports in preparationfor reaccreditation, which is a new and independent review of theacademy/program.