ERMA — Lower Township Police Department was recognized Monday for meeting all 112 standards of the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies.
Mitchell Sklar, executive director of the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police, presented accreditation to the police department. He said accreditation meant the department met all national standards, which started with an internal review.
Following that, assessors trained by the commission did an assessment which Lower Township police “passed with flying colors,” said Sklar.
He said only 34 police agencies in the state have received accreditation, four in Cape May County.
The commission is made up of current and retired police chiefs throughout New Jersey, as well as members of the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and executives from the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police.
“It is a high honor but one that is earned and not simply given,” said Sklar.
Lloyd Nippens, accreditation program manager for the commission said it normally takes police departments two to three years to meet all the standards, which features a three-day on site assessment. He said the assessors looked at policies, procedures and practices including interviews of personnel, which ends with a 25 to 30-page report on the department.
“Your on-site was so good and your on-site materials were so good, that we’re using them as models on our Web site for other on-sites,” said Nippens.
Sklar said the accreditation was a credit to Chief Edward Donohue and to Lt. Christopher Winter and the department to receive “such an outstanding review.”
One of the benefits from accreditation is the township will receive a discount in fees it pays to the Joint Insurance Fund, a benefit to taxpayers.
Donohue acknowledged the work of Winter in the two-year process. As a result, every officer has a book of procedures covering everything from fingerprinting a prisoner to how to handle a bomb scare, he said.
“Now the whole department is on the same page,” said Donohue.
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