Sheriff Rewrites Policies, Prepares for Accreditation

CREST HAVEN — Since June, a retired Lower Township police lieutenant has been assisting the county Sheriff’s Department to gain national accreditation from the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police.
An advantage of certification is a 5-percent reduction on insurance policies for the Sheriff’s Office, said Sheriff Gary Schaffer.
Christopher J. Winter Sr. a law enforcement accreditation consultant, is performing the work at $30 per hour for 20 hours per week for 16 weeks.
Winter’s rate, said Schaffer, was less than a quarter of what one national firm, Rogers Group, bid, or $125 per hour.
On Tue., Sept. 14, freeholders passed a resolution “reconfirming” a similar resolution adopted Aug. 24 because a resolution, No. 655-10, passed that day “required immediate action, it was not posted pursuant to the provisions of said Sunshine Law.”
The action on Sept. 14 ratified and reconfirmed the previous action.
It approved Winters’ additional professional services agreement “not to exceed $9,600.”
Winter is an independent contractor for the New Jersey State Chiefs of Police Association, and “is providing consultant services for two Cape May County law enforcement agencies…”
Because of that, the resolution states, “The county is authorized by NJSA 40A:11-5 to contract for professional services without the necessity for advertising and public bidding and this professional service agreement is for an amount below the bid threshold of $17,500.”
However, it stated that three quotes were obtained for the service, and Winter’s was lowest of all.
“We have already gotten to a point in the certification process we are well ahead of where we thought we would be,” said Schaffer.
He said the department is “redoing all the rules and regulations.”
As part of the project, Schaffer said the department’s data management system went paperless so that all policies, procedures and memos are on computer.
That way, changes are more easily made, and can easily be read and documented by personnel who read them on computer.
He said the changes would make future research of policies and orders retrievable more quickly than looking through paperwork.
Sheriff’s Department personnel will all have “digital signatures.” That means once it is read on-line, an acknowledgement is made, and that person’s supervisor will know the new rule has been read.
Schaffer said several towns in the county, including Ocean City and Middle Township, are currently undergoing departmental recertification.
Benefits of such scrutiny, he said, are a “professionalized organization, because it forces you to look at things in a fresh light.”
The procedure must be done every three years, Schaffer said.
He said the New Jersey Sheriff’s Association “paid for the application fee,” since there is “a push in the New Jersey Sheriff’s Association to get every sheriff’s officer certified.”
If that lofty goal is attained, he said, New Jersey would be the first state in the nation to receive such certification.
“It was cheaper for me to bring on Chris (Winter) and use the funds here than to assign two or three officers to the job,” said Schaffer. That would have meant overtime for the personnel, and taking them from other tasks.
“We are at a point that, in December, we should have all policies and procedures and regulations redone,” said Schaffer.
If that timetable is attained, a mock assessment could be scheduled in March. That would enable the department to find out, prior to final assessment, if additional work needs to be done, he said.
Winters’ services include preparation of accreditation standard files with proof of compliance, develop a property evidence function that includes handling, documentation, storage, security, inspections and audits of items handled by the agency personnel. It also includes an agency recruitment plan and completion of agency rules and regulations manual.
The project is completely rewriting and revising existing standard operating procedures.
Parts of this story were first published at capemaycountyherald.com
Contact Campbell at (609) 886-8600 Ext 28 or at: al.c@cmcherald.com