'It helps us in morale, our image in the community,' Sheriff Mike Brown says

Bedford County Sheriff's Office earns accreditation

by S.D. Harrington

Standards met deal with how officers write traffic tickets to how they raid the home of a drug suspect.

The Bedford County Sheriff's Office will become the eighth sheriff's department in Virginia to be accredited under a 4-year-old commission that sets professional standards for law enforcement agencies.

Bedford County Sheriff Mike Brown announced the accreditation this week.

"It is significant to us because I believe it's what every professional police agency in Virginia wants to rise to," said Brown, who is completing his first term as Bedford County's chief law enforcer.

"It helps us in morale, our image in the community.  It certainly helps our recruitment."

The Virginia Law Enforcement Professional Standards Commission requires agencies to meet 210 standards for accreditation.

The standards deal with issues from how officers write traffic tickets to how they raid the home of a drug suspect.

Law enforcement agencies can get either state or national accreditation.  Roanoke, Roanoke County, Blacksburg and Virginia Tech police departments, for example, are nationally accredited.  National accreditation is more rigorous that state accreditation.  It also is more expensive, requiring and annual fee of several thousand dollars and a full-time staffer to keep up with accreditation issues.

The cost has caused many agencies in Virginia to opt for state accreditation -- including Bedford County, Brown said.