ST. MARY’S COUNTY, Md. — St. Mary’s County Sheriff Tim Cameron is proud of the agency’s progress over the decades. Cameron has been with the sheriff’s office for 40 years and sheriff for the past 14.
He took time to reflect on the changes in law enforcement over the years. Sheriff Cameron sites two major positive changes. “The positive changes have been technology which has improved exchange of information and the ability to investigate and identify and bring people to justice.”
One example of that technology is the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s office smartphone app, which brings important alerts directly to citizens’ phones and allows them contact the department with non-emergency questions.
Better Training For Officers
Cameron also feels officers receive better training. “Training had improved significantly, as well as our processes and approaches to different kinds of events and crimes. Which brought the advent of accreditation. We are a CAELA accredited agency.”
The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CAELA) is an organization that provides accreditation for law enforcement agencies that meet certain standards. According to CAELA, “Accreditation is awarded to a law enforcement agency upon demonstration of voluntary commitment to law enforcement excellence by living up to a body of standards deemed essential to the protection of the life, health, safety, and rights of the citizens it serves and having exemplified the best professional practices in the conduct of its responsibilities.”
Cameron said compliance with a high-level of professional standards is especially important now. “. What has transpired in the US over the last several years in regard to the police profession is troubling. Our agency and community is Affected. Good thing is there’s been a lot of positive dialogue with community. But it’s frustrating to us to see other examples of policing send us back into the same cycle. Culminating most recently with the call to defund or abolish the police.”
Servant Leadership
The sheriff said that he’s worked hard to change the culture of his office into one the personifies servant leadership. “What you want is personnel who treat people with respect and empathy. I wanted to work in a culture of servant leadership where you’re solving problems and emphasize critical thinking. The majority of what we do is solve problems, not make arrests. I always say my job is to hire good people with a thorough background check, treat them well, and hold them accountable. That’s how I look at my day-to-day responsibility. You train your personnel well and you never stop. That’s continuous.”
Part of that philosophy is having good relations with the media. “What I always say is the media tells the story of what we do every day. How else would the public know? That’s warts and all. If me mess something up, I’m going to tell you. If we make mistakes, I’m going own it and admit to it, instead of blaming the media. People can accept that you made a mistake as long as you own up to it.”
Cameron said there’s no place he’d rather serve than St. Mary’s County. “St. Mary’s County is a great place to be a peace officer, as I like to call it. The public respects us, it goes both ways.”