On January 1, 2021, the Federal Law Enforcement Training Accreditation (FLETA) Board released the FLETA Procedures and Standards Manual 2020 Edition. Training organizations have six months to transition to the new standards. The Office of Accreditation (OA) developed a standards crosswalk to assist training organizations currently in the FLETA process. Additionally, the OA has updated all existing forms to support new and revised standards. The FLETA Procedures and Standards Manual 2020 Edition and the standards crosswalk are available on the FLETA.gov website and the FLETA Homeland Security Information Network (HSIN) site. Updated forms are available within the FLETA HSIN or upon request by contacting the OA.
“On behalf of the FLETA Board, I want to thank everyone who assisted with this comprehensive review of the manual,” stated FLETA Board Chair James L. Ward, Esquire. “Every page of the manual was evaluated by teams comprised of Board members, assessors, accreditation managers, and other members within the FLETA community. The result is a document that continues to guide the federal law enforcement training community as we develop and deliver training critical to supporting all federal law enforcement missions.”
Some of the more noticeable changes include:
- The inclusion of eTraining standards within existing sections of the manual, including procedures to support eTraining, and developing glossary terms that define what is and is not eTraining.
- Streamlining the standards by combining standards that result in a single outcome, retiring standards, and reordering standards.
- Renumbering the standards that support training development in sequential order.
- Moving the glossary to the end of the manual.
Some of the procedural changes include:
- The six-month transition policy has been included within the manual to support future revisions.
- The “Application” section now includes eligibility requirements an organization must meet in order to apply for FLETA accreditation.
- The “FLETA Assessment” section has been revised to allow for in-person or remote assessments, based on OA Executive Director approval.
- A “Corrective Action Plan” section has been added to address the processes that support when corrective action plans are identified, reported, and developed.
- “National Emergencies” guidance has been added to support agencies when national or world events/emergencies impact federal law enforcement training operations.
- “Withdrawal” guidance has been added that addresses the process for withdrawing from FLETA and the timeframe when new applications may be presented for academies/programs that were withdrawn.
The FLETA Office of Accreditation is available to answer any questions regarding the FLETA Procedures and Standards Manual 2020 Edition.