BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C.–From patrol, detective techniques, community services, and more–the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office is undergoing a top to bottom review. It’s all part of the re-accreditation process. It’s the first time in three years the BCSO has had to do this since initially receiving its accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., also known as CALEA.
The purpose of the national accreditation is to improve the delivery of public safety services and to ensure any local municipality or county sheriffs office operation is up to national law enforcement standards.
“It’s not easy to get and its even harder to maintain,” Roy Liddicott, Broward County Sheriff’s Office Captain and CALEA staffer said. “There’s 485 standards that the agency has to be in compliance with. These standards are compiled by multiple groups in the law enforcement field from all around the world.”
Liddicott says BCSO has to prove their compliance. The two person team from CALEA will spend four days observing and taking notes about operations at the sheriffs office. The findings will be compiled into a report and submitted to the CALEA Commission for final approval.
“I welcome it. I think it’s necessary, and it’s not an easy thing to do to receive this national accreditation,” Sheriff Duane Lewis who’s been in the position for a year and two months now. “We put together our team to look at all the processes and look at the standards that CALEA has put out there, and we’ve been going through those.”
In addition to a process review at the office, part of re-accreditation included a public hearing where people told CALEA team members their experiences with the sheriff’s office.
Moncks Corner Police Chief Rick Ollic also spoke during the review.
“Previously, there was no relationship between the sheriff’s office and Moncks Corner. I’m not quite sure why,” Ollic said. He reported that the times have changed. “It’s great to have a partnership with Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office. We’ve used their crime scene. Sheriff Lewis is very accessible.”
“It makes for an efficient operation when we have to work together,” said Goose Creek Police Chief Harvey Becker, who offered his recommendation for re-accreditation of the sheriff’s office. “We know what to expect. We observe them to be working in the standards.”
Citizens also offered their feedback.
“Since assuming office Sheriff Lewis has been very visible. He has been in my community and shared his vision,” resident Nelson Weaver said.
Chris Bolt spoke on behalf of the Sheriff’s Citizens Advisory Council and Community Action Team. She says the sheriff’s office now has a face in the community and issues such as littering, speeding, drugs, and break-ins are improving.
“Trust has been increased significantly because the sheriffs office has been accessible,” she said. “We strongly feel as a community the accreditation should be a slam dunk.”
“Accreditation is a great thing. You know that when you call the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office, you know that you are going to get a responder who shows up providing a service to you that’s been approved by multiple boards that this is the right way to do it,” Liddicott said. He says the accreditation process will be moved from every three years to every four years in the future. He says only about 1,000 agencies nationwide have CALEA accreditation, out of about 22,000. He says re-accreditation could be granted to BCSO a few weeks after the final report is compiled.
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