The Federal Law Enforcement Training Accreditation (FLETA) Board, Office of Accreditation (OA) Staff and FLETA community congratulated and recognized Dr. Gary Mitchell on his upcoming retirement from federal service on April 30, 2016. Dr. Mitchell joined the FLETA OA on April 30, 2006 after 30 years of law enforcement service in the state of Florida.
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 Chief after more than twenty-four years of service. In 1993, Dr. Mitchell began serving as a national and state assessor/team leader for on-site inspections of police agencies seeking law enforcement accreditation through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA) and the Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation (CFA). He was also a member of CALEA’s task force which developed the Third Edition of CALEA accreditation standards.
Prior to coming to FLETA, Dr. Mitchell was the manager of the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office’s, Law Enforcement Policy Development and Accreditation Division (LEPDA). As the Sheriff’s Office prepared for its 2006 on-site assessment, he developed a completely “paperless” process which allows the assessment teams to view 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 Police Executive Research Forum’s Senior Management Institute for Police (SMIP) leadership program, along with the Cambridge Program in Risk Management for Churches and Schools.
The FLETA Board is the accrediting body for all federal law enforcement training and support programs. To achieve accreditation, agencies submit to an independent review of their academy and/or program to ensure compliance with the FLETA Standards and Procedures in the areas of: Administration, Training Staff, Training Development, Training Delivery, and Distance Learning. Accreditation is a cyclical process occurring every five years. Each year, agencies must submit annual reports in preparation for reaccreditation, which is a new and independent review of the academy/program.