St. Mary’s Sheriff’s Office Receives National Accreditation

The St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office is pleased to announce the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) National Accreditation Award.  This prestigious award was bestowed upon the Sheriff’s Office at the CALEA National Conference which was held in Montreal, Canada beginning July 25, 2007 through July 28, 2007.

The St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office joined other national and international public safety agencies from the United States, Canada, Mexico, Barbados, British Virgin Islands and Bermuda at the conference.  During the conference, the CALEA Commission reviewed the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office on-site assessment examination to verify the Sheriff’s Office law enforcement policies, procedures and professional practices had met the National Accreditation Standards.  Upon completion of the review and commission hearing, the CALEA Commission unanimously voted to award the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office full national accreditation.  Sheriff Timothy K. Cameron accepted the award on Saturday July 28, 2007 during the CALEA Award Celebration Banquet.

The CALEA Commission was established as an independent accrediting authority in 1979 by four major law enforcement executive associations, the International Association of Chiefs of Police; the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives; the National Sheriff’s Association; and the Police Executive Research Forum.  These associations represent approximately 80 percent of the law enforcement profession within the United States.

The Commission was established for two reasons:  to develop a set of professional law enforcement standards, and to establish and administer an accreditation process through which law enforcement agencies could demonstrate, voluntarily, they meet professionally recognized criteria for excellence in management and the delivery of law enforcement services to the community.

The St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office is only the 99th Sheriff’s Office out of 3,088 Sheriff’s Offices nationally to receive CALEA Law Enforcement Accreditation.