The Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office is aiming for the “gold standard” of law enforcement, say officials, to elevate its current policies and procedures to a higher level.

That level can only be achieved by voluntarily getting accredited from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA), says RCSO Chief Deputy Scott.

CALEA, a nonprofit credentialing authority, aims to update the policy and procedures of law enforcement agencies, communication centers, training academies and campus security to the highest standards in relation to the program.

The Conyers Police Department received CALEA accreditation November 2012. The Georgia Piedmont Technical College Law Enforcement Academy became the first training academy in Georgia to achieve accreditation by CALEA in August.

By getting CALEA accredited, the sheriff’s office will be operating under the best practices of the modern local law enforcement agency, Freeman adds.

“(RCSO) will subject itself to outside agencies that are CALEA accredited assessors to come in and basically do a top down inspection to make sure that we have our policies in place, that (the policies) meet the standards set by CALEA and that were actually operating in compliance with those individual policies,” he said.

Earning its stripes 

While the RCSO has met Georgia state certifications for its policies and procedures it, has a long way to go before it can be stamped with CALEA’s approval.

The sheriff’s office decided to embark on this goal in May of this year and has been working down the check list of requirements with Freeman as the point man. The RCSO has three years to comply with CALEA standards.

“This isn’t something that we sign and we’re ready to go the next month,” said Freeman. “We have a number of different steps that we will take.”

There are at least 400 improvements or updates that need to be addressed for RCSO to get become CALEA certified, says Freeman.  Most of the improvements will be updating the management policies of the sheriff’s office, addressing risk management issues, and increasing the training experience of the deputies. 

The RCSO took a major step forward this week when the Rockdale Board of Commissioners approved a $145,000 federal grant, from seized drug money, to the sheriff’s office which will be used to remodel the property and evidence room, adding more storage space, shelving and technology to bring it up to CALEA’s standards.

This was a crucial area, says Freeman.

“The property and evidence room has been a priority,” he said. “We have a duty and an obligation to make sure that we are doing the absolute best we can to make sure that evidence is maintained in a safe and secure environment, that the integrity of that evidence is maintained and that expense could mean the difference between whether evidence is compromised or if the integrity is kept intact.”

Benefits of CALEA

Receiving this level of accreditation for a law enforcement agency could potentially help with community relations in the area, says CALEA Southeast Regional Program Manager Vince Dauro.

Some agencies may not put certain policies or procedures in writing because staff simply do what’s always been done, says Dauro, but CALEA makes everyone accountable for their actions because they and citizens will know the proper procedures.

“Everything is in writing,” he said. “Everyone knows what’s expected of them and how to handle situations.” 

This certification could also help with litigation matters because a court will understand that the law enforcement agency is operating under the best practices, says Daruo. Other benefits include reducing liability insurance cost and stronger support from local government officials. 

All of this is based on the fundamental foundations of what CALEA tries to impose on agencies, says Freeman. 

“It’s what are you doing behind the scenes to make sure your services are meeting the standards of the courts and law enforcement in general,” he said. “This should be expected from a 21st century law enforcement agency because it’s not just about an accreditation symbol and a status. The goal is that we’ll emerge as a much more effective sheriff’s office as a result of us being able to obtain CALEA accreditation.”

But will it happen?

The process towards accreditation can be long, and the first three years are usually the hardest because it’s mostly paperwork, says Dauro.

But Freeman anticipates not only will the RCSO achieve its goal but it will reach it with a whole year to spare on its time limit. 

Why is he so confident? Because Freeman has been through this same process before when he and another officer took the lead to get the Conyers Police agency re-accredited with CALEA three years ago. 

It took them one year to receive the approval of CALEA.

“It’s a very time consuming process because there’s so much riding on it when an agency decides to do this,” said Freeman. “The entire agency has to be committed to it. Having gone through that experience and being successful, I think it sets us up over here at the sheriff’s office to be a little bit ahead of the curve.”

But, even if the sheriff’s office doesn’t get it done it two years, it will still get it done in the three.

“Failure is not an option for us. You only fail if you allow yourself to fail,” Freeman said. “It will happen.”