The Department of Public Safety has applied for national
accreditation through the Commission
on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA). The goals
of national accreditation are to help local law enforcement agencies:
- Strengthen crime prevention
and control capabilities;
- Formalize essential management
procedures;
- Establish fair and nondiscriminatory
personnel practices;
- Improve service delivery;
- Solidify interagency
cooperation and coordination; and
- Boost citizen and staff
confidence in the agency.
Accreditation includes standards that describe what agencies
should be doing in order to achieve the highest professional practices, not
how they should be doing it. The standards often include five major law enforcement
areas:
- Roles, responsibilities,
and relationships with other agencies;
- Organization, management,
and administration;
- Law enforcement operations,
operational support, and traffic law enforcement;
- Prisoner and court-related
services; and
- Auxiliary and technical
services.
The benefits of national accreditation are numerous. It not
only makes a statement to other agencies, professions, and communities that
the highest standards of law enforcement are being met, but also demonstrates
that complying agencies intend to be responsive to the various needs of their
communities. Specific departmental benefits often include:
- Controlled liability
insurance costs;
- Deterrence against lawsuits
and strengthened defense against citizen complaints;
- Greater accountability
within the agency;
- Support from government
officials;
- Increased community confidence,
respect and advocacy;
- Access to the latest
methods developed by experts in law enforcement;
- Better managed department;
and
- Promotion of high morale
among personnel.
The department under went a "mock on-site inspection"
in May 1999. The "on-site" inspection was held September
18 - 22, 1999. The assessment was successful. The Department was
awarded it’s accreditation on November 20, 1999, in Atlanta Georgia.
