The Federal Law Enforcement Training Accreditation (FLETA) Board ispleased to announce it granted initial accreditation status to theNational Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Federal ArrestAuthority Basic Program at the March 22, 2012 meeting in Hilton Head,South Carolina. This is the first NASA program to achieve FLETAaccreditation. Mark Borsi, Deputy Chief, NASA Protective Servicesaccepted the certificate of accreditation, “NASA has been moving inthis direction for about 20 years. We are fully committed toaccreditation and standards for law enforcement training”.
The Space Act of 1958 authorized select NASA government personneland contractors to carry firearms. In November 1988, the SpaceAct was amended to grant statutory federal arrest authority to selectNASA employees and contractors. NASA’s Protective Services TrainingAcademy is charged with training all NASA Protective Services andcontractor forces at 14 NASA Centers nationwide. The FederalArrest Authority Basic Program is 152 training hours and NASA employeesand contract personnel with basic entry -level training required forfederal arrest authority.
To achieve accreditation, agencies submit to an independent reviewof their academy and/or program to ensure compliance with the FLETAStandards and Procedures in the areas of: Program Administration,Training Staff, Training Development, and Training Delivery, with anadditional 20 standards for Academies. Accreditation is a cyclicalprocess occurring every three years. Each year, agencies must submitannual reports in preparation for reaccreditation, which is a new andindependent review of the academy/program.