The Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office was honored by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services’ (DCJS) New York State Law Enforcement Accreditation Council at a ceremony held this morning in Albany, New York. Sheriff Vincent F. DeMarco attended the ceremony and accepted the Certificate of Accreditation in recognition of the Sheriff’s Office high level of excellence and professionalism in the field of law enforcement.
The New York State Law Enforcement Accreditation Program (NYSLEAP) is a rigorous review process that formally recognizes agencies which meet or exceed 133 quality accreditation standards. The Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office is among one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the State to be granted the accreditation. The Office has 258 sworn deputies with responsibilities ranging from highway and marine patrols, investigating crimes, apprehending persons charged with criminal activity, serving warrants and handling domestic violence cases. The Sheriff’s Office enforcement authority covers more than 900 square miles of land and 1400 miles of water.
During the month of July 2012, a team of evaluators from the NYS Law Enforcement Accreditation Council visited the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office to evaluate administrative practices, inspect files and policies and observe fiscal management practices. They also evaluated training standards for sworn deputy sheriffs and performed a rigorous evaluation of all highway enforcement functions. This included a review of all patrol activities, from responding to calls for emergency assistance and making traffic stops and arrests to reviewing investigative practices and its handling of evidence related to accident and crime scenes.
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Upon receiving the accreditation, Sheriff DeMarco thanked the Council for their support and credited the men and women of the Sheriff’s Office for their “consistent hard work and professionalism.” He added, that “the accreditation process demonstrates that our deputy sheriffs and civilian staff are meeting and exceeding the highest standards in the field of law enforcement and public administration.”
Of the more than 520 law enforcement organizations in the State of New York, the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office is one of only 143 agencies to have achieved this level of accreditation.
