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Beaufort Gazette - Beaufort,SC
26 March 2007

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What do residents think about the Beaufort Police Department? National law enforcement accreditation inspectors want to know.
Today the inspectors from the Virginia-based Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies are setting up a hotline and a public meeting to gather residents' opinions as part of a four-day on-site inspection of the local department. The meeting is set for 7 p.m. in Beaufort County Council Chambers.

"Anybody can come in and bring up anything they'd like," Beaufort police Chief Jeff Dowling said.

The department has been working about three years to get everything in line to receive recognition from the nation's most popular law enforcement accreditation agency, which boasts about 800 law enforcement organizations, and this week's on-site inspection will determine whether the department will be recommended for accreditation.

If accredited at the commission's conference in July, the department will be one of the first municipal police departments in the region to receive such recognition, though the Bluffton Police Department also is in the accreditation process. No other agencies in Beaufort County are accredited with the commission, and that the agency is the first says something for the Beaufort Police Department, CALEA program manager Steve Mitchell said.

"Most join out of professional peer pressure more than anything," he said. "For the community, it means better accountability for the agency. They can expect the same level of services. It's a real mixed bag without accreditation."

Once accredited, a department must undergo the rigorous on-site inspections once every three years, in which the department's policies, procedures and rules are scrutinized, along with proof police provide that they understand and follow them.

"Now (residents) can pretty much hang their hat on we're one of the top 3 percent of municipal police departments in the nation," said Doug Kadas, the department's accreditation officer, who has spent about 80 percent of his time the past three years preparing this recognition. "It says we do what we say we're going to do -- that we're a department of integrity."

This badge of integrity does cost more than just time and effort. Besides paying for Kadas' salary, the nonprofit commission charges a department of Beaufort's size about $8,400 for initial accreditation and an annual fee of $4,030, according to the CALEA Web site.

Dowling said the City Council has approved of the accreditation and its extra costs from the beginning, adding the process is "worth every penny" because it helps improve the department.

"CALEA (accreditation) improves the service the agency provides to citizens," he said. "It puts in line with industry standards."

Most recent improvements include the implementation of a bar code system to better track the department's almost 10,000 pieces of evidence and stepped up recruiting efforts, Dowling said.

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Beaufort Gazette - Beaufort,SC26 March 2007

How would you rate the Beaufor

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Beaufort Gazette - Beaufort,SC
26 March 2007