The Honolulu Police Department has been recognized as only the second U.S. police department and first in a major city to earn national accreditation in law enforcement, communications and training, the department said yesterday.

The accreditation was announced in March.

In a ceremony at HPD's Alapa'i Street headquarters, Chief Boisse Correa handed Mayor Mufi Hannemann the TRI-ARC Excellence Award, given by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies Inc. to entities that hold all three accreditations.

"This national award speaks volumes of the hard work, the sacrifice, and the dedication of the men and women in blue," Hannemann said.

HPD is the first department in a major U.S. city to earn the accreditation trifecta, police said. Knoxville, Tenn., also earned triple accreditation, according to the CALEA Web site.

To be accredited, a police department has to meet more than 440 standards in the areas of policy and procedures, administration, operations, and support services. HPD's training division was accredited in March, the agency was accredited in 2003 and the communications division was accredited in 2004.

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.