Sheriff's Office honored

by Rebecca Jackson-Clause -- EDITOR

BEDFORD -- The Bedford County Sheriff's Office will achieve accreditation in September from the Virginia Law Enforcement Professional Standards Commission, becoming only the ninth out of 125 sheriff's offices in the state to do so.  Be receiving accreditation, the sheriff's office meets the state's highest standards of leadership, professionalism and efficiency.

The office completed an on site accreditation assessment July 20 by a three-man assessment team from the Commonwealth of Virginia, Department of Criminal Justice Services, professional standards commission.

Locally, the review process took more than a year.  During its visit, the team examined four different areas of law enforcement, including administration, operations, personnel and training.  To receive accreditation, the office had to pass 211 criteria, about 50 in each of the four categories, according to Bedford County Sheriff Mike Brown.

Ten police departments in the commonwealth also have met the criteria.

The commission was established in 1993 with the directive of raising standards of law enforcement in Virginia.  The Central Intelligence Agency, Sheriff Brown said, was so impressed with the accreditation program that it has arranged for its Langley Air Force Base security division to undergo the same procedure.

Within the realm of administration, the team took a close look at how the sheriff's office is managed, from budget to directives.  In the operations category, it examined how deputies responded to law enforcement tasks, like defusing domestic violence, ticketing or conducting drug searches.  The team focused on personnel policies governing hiring, firing, the grievance process and how training is conducted.  Finally, it inspected the office's training program, including new recruit training, records, and opportunities for in-service staff development.  The team also picked deputies at random to inspect their performance and examined the department's maritime enforcement unit at Smith Mountain Lake. 

"Every member of this department worked on accreditation," Sheriff Brown said.  "It involved a mind-boggling amount of paperwork.  The citizens of Bedford have one of the most professional law enforcement agencies in the state.  The men and women of the sheriff's office made this happen, and they should be congratulated.  They are some of the best.  Every police executive should strive for this level of professionalism."