County Sheriff’s Department, Prosecutor’s Office Win Three-Year Accreditation

CREST HAVEN – Cape May County’s top law enforcement brass was brightly shining and broadly beaming Tue., July 24 as the Sheriff’s Department and County Prosecutor’s Office received accreditation from the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police.
Cape May became the second county in the state to have both departments accredited, according to Freeholder Leonard Desiderio, director of public safety, who oversees both departments. Accepting the awards as members of their respective departments watched were Prosecutor Robert Taylor and Sheriff Gary Schaffer.
According to Mitchell C. Sklar executive director, New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police, the high honor is “not just given… it is earned.” The process that can take two to three years lets an independent auditor inspect every facet of the department, its policies, procedures and systems.
Accreditation means both departments have attained national standards and will stand for three years when both will undergo another round of scrutiny for a future accreditation.
“In Cape May (County) what we saw was a very clean process,” said Harry J. DelGado, accreditation program manager, of the Sheriff’s Department.
“I would like to commend you for a job well done,” DelGado said. “To put it in perspective, there are over 540 law enforcement agencies in New Jersey,” only relatively few are in the program.”It is still a small group. These agencies join an elite group of police agencies.”
Schaffer said in the county police departments in Cape May, Ocean City, Lower Township, Middle Township, Wildwood Crest are similarly accredited.
Delgado lauded the Prosecutor’s Office for “taking the proactive step…to have its transparency looked at by outsiders and make judgments.” He said the same “rigorous process” was used to grade that office, and found it “showed a clear commitment to excellence.”
“I would also say we noticed a very, very healthy working relationship between these two agencies sharing a commonality of ideas that leads to successful agencies,” DelGado said.
Sklar said he found a “Very high quality of law enforcement professionals in this county in the Sheriff’s Department and Prosecutor’s Office.”
Taylor thanked members of his office for their “cooperation throughout the process.” He singled out Detective Aaron Sykes for “managing the flow of the accreditation process. We are only the second County Prosecutor’s Office to receive this honor. We are very proud of that.”
“Day in and day out you deal in very difficult situations over and over again,” said Freeholder Director Gerald Thornton. “You should feel proud of yourself, and we are proud of you for a job well done, thank you,” he added.