CALEA

In November of 2006, the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department dedicated a full-time position in completing our international professional law enforcement accreditation through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA). The goals of this accreditation program are to strengthen our crime prevention and control policy and procedures, formalize management procedures, establish fair and nondiscriminatory personnel practices, improved services, and increase community and staff confidence. The accreditation process is a lengthy endeavor with over 450 standards the Sheriff's Department must comply with prior to gaining the CALEA accreditation. The goal of the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department is to gain accreditation by December 2007.

The CALEA Accreditation process is a proven modern management model and one that will provide the Sheriff's Department an opportunity to voluntarily demonstrate that we meet an established set of professional standards, which will:

· Require the Sheriff to continually develop and review a comprehensive uniform set of written policies and procedures to help us reach our administrative and operational goals, while also providing direction to personnel.

· Provide the necessary reports and analyses the Sheriff needs to make fact-based, informed management decisions.

· Increase our emergency preparedness in addressing natural or fabricated critical incidents.

· Continually developing and improving community partnerships and programs.

· Strengthen the Sheriff's Department accountability, both within the agency and the community, through a continuum of standards that clearly define authority, performance, and responsibilities.

The Sheriff's Department continues in pursuit of professional excellence to demonstrate for the community our commitment to them, based on internationally recognized standards for law enforcement agencies. CALEA Accreditation is a continual process, which sets and reviews our professional standards, by an independent CALEA Commission Board, every three years to ensure we are demonstrating a commitment to excellence in our everyday law enforcement practices.