Benedictine Police is first agency of its kind to receive accreditation in Illinois

 Lisle, Illinois ~ Benedictine University’s Police Department is the first private University law enforcement agency in Illinois to receive accreditation through the Illinois Law Enforcement Accreditation Program (ILEAP).

A team of ILEAP inspectors and evaluators, the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police and leading law enforcement and criminal justice administrators granted the award in June after a thorough review of the department’s policies and procedures, management, operations and support services.

The accreditation status means Benedictine’s police force meets professional law enforcement standards and provides the most effective and efficient services possible, University Police Chief Mike Salatino said.

“I am very proud of the hard work and commitment made by all members of the department who helped us reach this status,” Salatino said. “Our accreditation award now sets us on a continued road of providing the best services to our campus community.”

The accreditation award is not the only accolade the Benedictine University Police Department has received. The most recent report by StateUniversity.com ranked Benedictine University as the safest four-year school in Illinois. In 2012, the department was awarded first place in the College/Campus Police category of the Illinois Traffic Safety Challenge, a program that examines policies, procedures, officer training, safety recognition programs, public information and education efforts, and enforcement and crash data effectiveness information. 
                                                 
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Benedictine University is an independent Roman Catholic institution located in Lisle, Illinois just 25 miles west of Chicago, and has branch campuses in Springfield, Illinois and Mesa, Arizona. Founded in 1887, Benedictine provides 55 undergraduate majors and 15 graduate and four doctoral programs. Benedictine University is ranked No. 1 among the country’s fastest-growing campuses between 2000-2010 in The Chronicle of Higher Education’s list of private nonprofit research institutions, and Forbes magazine named Benedictine among “America’s Top Colleges” for the second consecutive year in 2012. Benedictine University’s Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) program is listed by Crain’s Chicago Business as the fifth largest in the Chicago area in 2012.