The Sheriff’s Office was first accredited by the Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation, Inc. in 2004, again in 2007 and now in 2010. Every three years the agency must prove compliance with the 84 comparative compliance standards as well as compliance with the 463 standards defined by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA).
“It is imperative to set the standards higher in order to benefit the agency, its members, and the community we serve”, stated Sheriff Deryl Loar.
The Indian River County Sheriff’s Office will be one of eleven agencies in the State of Florida to be accredited by the Florida Corrections Accreditation Commission (FCAC), Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation, Inc. (CFA) and the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA).
Some of the benefits of accreditation include:
Increased cooperation and coordination with other law enforcement agencies, along with other branches of the criminal justice system.
The accreditation process requires an in-depth review of every aspect of the agency’s organization, management, operations, and administration to include:
- establishment of agency goals and objectives with provisions for periodic updating;
- re-evaluation of whether agency resources are being used in accord with agency goals, objectives, and mission;
- re-evaluation of agency policies and procedures, especially as documented in the agency’s written directive system;
- correction of internal deficiencies and inefficiencies before they become public problems; and
- the opportunity to re-organize without the appearance of personal attacks.
The accreditation standards provide norms against which agency performance can be measured and monitored over time.
Accreditation provides objective measures to justify decisions related to budget requests and personnel policies.
Accreditation streamlines operations, providing more consistency and more effective deployment of agency manpower.