NEWBERRY — The Newberry Police Department is the first law enforcement agency in South Carolina to receive state accreditation status for a sixth consecutive three-year period.
The recognition was made by Lexington Police Department Chief Terrence Green of the S.C. Law Enforcement Accreditation Inc. on Tuesday night at the Newberry City Council meeting.
Interim Police Chief Roy McClurkin thanked supporting agencies including the Newberry County Sheriff’s Office, Newberry County Communications Center, Newberry County Detention Center, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and the S.C. Police Accreditation Coalition for also helping them through this process.
“This was a team effort and I’m proud of each and every member of this department plus all of the other agencies that have helped us through this process,” McClurkin said. “It’s the hard work and dedication of the men and women of the police department that we’re able to get awards like this.”
The SCLEA program is an initiative of the S.C. Police Chiefs’ Association and the S.C. Sheriff’s Association. The program is voluntary and is designed to improve the professionalism of participating law enforcement agencies through the implementation of best management practices that are also sensitive to local needs.
Of the more than 235 law enforcement agencies in South Carolina, Green said only 42 are accredited and the Newberry Police Department is one of those agencies.
Accreditation Manager Lt. Michael O’Connell of the Newberry Police Department said to stay accredited, a department has to keep up with its policies, procedures and other written directives.
“You have to prove that you’re following these written directives all the time,” O’Connell said.
Every three years the agency comes up for re-accreditation, but O’Connell said the process is ongoing to keep the accreditation.
The objectives of the SCLEA program are:
• To increase law enforcement agency capabilities;
• To provide better departmental management by establishing precise written policies and procedures;
• To increase agency effectiveness and efficiency of services delivered;
• To provide access to the latest methods developed by law enforcement practitioners;
• To promote cooperation and coordination among law enforcement agencies and other elements of the criminal justice system;
• To increase citizen and employee confidence in the practices of the agency.
The process
Every three years, O’Connell said the department has a mock assessment, similar to a dry-run before the on-site assessment that occurs a few months later. The on-site assessment is the final inspection for the agency.
The assessors, who come for both the mock and on-site assessment, are from the S.C. Police Accreditation Coalition. No one from the immediate area is part of the assessment, which keeps the assessment unbiased.
A final report is given to the SCLEA council and the agency has to appear before the council for questioning and review. The council then votes whether the department is re-accredited.
The on-site assessment for the Newberry Police Department was in done May and they found out in June they had been re-accredited.
Being an assessor himself, O’Connell has traveled to other agencies to view how they do things.
“Being an assessor actually helps me as an Accreditation Manager because I get to go around and see how other agencies do their job,” O’Connell said. “Sometimes I’ll bring back ideas from other agencies that we can use ourselves and sometimes other agencies like what we’re doing and they will copy us.”
Other agencies
“Within the police department, accreditation touches every single person,” O’Connell said.
The 27 chapters within the S.C. Law Enforcement Accreditation Program include patrol, records, investigations, special operations and more.
“All together, there are approximately 290 standards, with some broken down into subsections or bullet points,” O’Connell said. “We have to meet 100 percent of those standards for accreditation.”
O’Connell said part of the process relies on other departments within the city for support, which is why they were grateful to surrounding agencies and departments.
O’Connell said they work closely with other agencies on a daily basis, but also do emergency response exercises with them.
Agencies like SLED help with special operations assistance and administer polygraph examinations while the NCSO can assist with their critical incident response team (CIRT) and with other calls through their mutual aid agreement.
Standards for re-accreditation also cover working with the Newberry County Detention Center to ensure both employees and prisoners are safe.
O’Connell said accreditation gives residents confidence in a department and helps the city of Newberry by reducing liability.
“It also increases agency effectiveness and efficiency by having precise, written policies that every employee knows what to do at any certain time and understands the reason why we’re doing it,” O’Connell said.