Mahwah March 28, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 9 The Mahwah Police Department is now working on the reaccreditation process with the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies. This week, a team of CALEA assessors will arrive in the township to examine all aspects of the Mahwah Police Department policy and procedures, management, and operations. The Mahwah Police Department received initial accreditation in 2003, and was subsequently reaccredited in 2006 and 2009. The department is one of a handful of New Jersey law enforcement agencies to have received national accreditation. As an accredited agency, the department is required to comply with over 400 individual standards on both the state and national levels. “The accreditation process through CALEA will build upon our outstanding reputation in the community while complementing and reinforcing our organizational values,” Mahwah Police Chief James N. Batelli said. The accreditation process includes five phases: enrollment, self assessment, on-site assessment, commission review and decision, and maintaining compliance. The assessment team’s verification that the Mahwah Police Department has met the commission’s highest standards is part of a voluntary process to maintain accreditation and is a highly-prized and sought-after recognition of excellence in the law enforcement community. During this week’s on-site assessment, CALEA representatives will observe the actual practice of agency personnel to assure the policies are followed while officers perform their tasks. Police department seeks reaccreaditation As part of the on-site assessment, agency employees and members of the community were invited to offer comments at a public information session. The general public and agency employees were also invited to call in with comments, which were taken by members of the assessment team. Anyone who wishes to submit written comments about the Mahwah Police Department’s ability to comply with the standards for accreditation may send them to the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, 13575 Heathcote Boulevard, Suite 320, Gainesville, Virginia, 20155. The Creating a Sustainable World: Voices of Key Practitioners series, sponsored by Ramapo College, will present Nora Bateson on March 29. Bateson will show and discuss “An Ecology of Mind,” a documentary film about Gregory Bateson at 6 p.m. in Friends Hall (SC219) in the Robert A. Scott Student Center. In directing the film about her late father, Nora Bateson creates a personal yet astute portrait of one of the most original thinkers of the twentieth century. Gregory Bateson (1904-80) was an English anthropologist, social scientist, and cyberneticist who also pursued interdisciplinary themes across biology, psychology, anthropology, and philosophy of science. “Although his work was essential to many fields, the Ramapo showing gives special recognition to Bateson’s core contributions to ecological thought even more vital today given the advanced sustainability crises we now must confront,” said Professor Michael Edelstein, organizer of Bateson to speak at Ramapo the series. “The film reminds us of important concepts at a time when we most need intellectual clarity if we are to act effectively.” The film succeeds on many levels, as noted by Hildred Geertz, former professor at Princeton University’s department of anthropology, offering a “tender and poetic portrayal…of one of the most provocative thinkers of the last century, but also a vivid relationship between a daughter and father.” Since the film’s debut in New York City last spring, Nora Bateson has taken it on several world tours to critical and intellectual acclaim. For more information about the Creating a Sustainable World: Voices of Key Practitioners or “An Ecology of Mind” event, contact Professor of Environmental Psychology and Director of the Institute for Environmental Studies Michael Edelstein via email at medelste@ramapo.edu. The college is located at 505 Ramapo Valley Road in Mahwah.