The Federal Law Enforcement Training Accreditation (FLETA) Board ispleased to announce it granted accreditation status to the U.S. CoastGuard Maritime Law Enforcement Facilitator Course (MLEFC), andreaccreditation status to the Maritime Law Enforcement Academy (MLEA)and the Radiation Detection Level II Operators Course (RADHAZ) at theApril 7, 2011 meeting in Charleston, South Carolina.
The MLEFC is offered to U.S. Coast Guard MLEA law enforcementinstructors and deployable law enforcement training teams. Graduates of the MLEFC possess the skills and knowledge necessary to instruct CoastGuard law enforcement personnel in a legal, safe, and professionalmanner. The Radiation Detection Level II Operators Course (RADHAZ) is acompetency-based training program that prepares Coast Guard personnelto conduct radiation detection operations onboard vessels andashore.
Both courses are taught at the Maritime Law Enforcement Academylocated on the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center campus inCharleston, South Carolina. The MLEA was established in 2004 as theCoast Guard combined existing law enforcement training from facilitiesin Yorktown, Virginia, and Petaluma, California, into the singleCharleston location in order to meet the increased demands of a post9/11 environment.
FLETA Board Member Tim Carruth reported the results of the MLEFC andMLEA reviews, noting the MLEFC program was a model as far as an agencycreating an instructor development program. He also mentioned how theMLEA is a huge operation that includes an international footprint.Board Member Ralph Keaton reported the results of the RADHAZ review,noting this course has renewed significance with the recent events inJapan.
To achieve accreditation, an agency must undergo a voluntarythorough assessment of their academy and/or program to ensurecompliance with the FLETA standards. These professional standardswere developed to increase agency effectiveness and efficiency. The standards address Program Administration, Training Staff, TrainingDevelopment, and Training Delivery, with an additional 20 standardsspecifically for Academies. Once an academy or program isaccredited, they must undergo reaccreditation every three years usingthe current standards and process. Reaccreditation takes a freshlook at all information to determine if the evidence supports theagency’s continued compliance with FLETA Standards. To maintainaccredited status, agencies also are required to submit annual reportsto the FLETA Board.
The FLETA Board is nationally recognized by federal law enforcementagencies, as well as stakeholders in law enforcement training. Itis the Board’s goal to improve the federal law enforcement communitywith each accreditation, and the Board has now awarded 48 programaccreditations and 13 academy accreditations.
If you would like more information regarding the FLETA process,please visit the website at www.FLETA.govor contact FLETA at 912-261-3684.