Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 19, 1993 TAG: 9305190109
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies recognizes police departments that have attained professional excellence in policies and procedures, management, operations and support services.
Last September, after two years of preparation, Blacksburg police were visited by an assessment team to review whether the town's police department met nearly 950 required accreditation standards.
Blacksburg did not receive accreditation when the Fairfax-based agency reviewed the team's report in November, but neither was it denied, Chief Don Carey said.
Town Manager Ron Secrist declined to release the accreditation report earlier this year, calling it a working document because there were ongoing discussions with accreditation officials.
But the group has agreed to send a new team to visit the Police Department. The assessment team will arrive Saturday and hold a public hearing Monday, 7-9 p.m., at the Municipal Building.
Secrist said the town was not meeting 42 - or 4 percent - of 942 standards, according to the assessment team. Blacksburg disagrees with some of the interpretations of those standards.
One problem Blacksburg faced was an affirmative-action standard requiring the police work force to mirror the town's population.
With the diverse international community in Blacksburg because of Virginia Tech, the Police Department could not meet that standard.
Secrist said the town's population includes students from about 100 countries. Those students are here to get a degree, and are "not necessarily part of our available work force," Secrist said.
After negotiations with the accreditation team, the standard was changed to require that the police force mirror the available work force, not the percentage of population, Carey said.
While the Blacksburg Police Department may not be able to employ representatives of all minority groups living in the town, 8 percent of sworn officers are black, Carey said. That's twice the 4 percent of available minority work force.
Last fall, during the assessment team's public hearing, Oscar Williams of the Montgomery County NAACP praised the department for its ability to hire proportionately so many more blacks and women than departments five times its size. "That's because we hire the best available and we're sensitive to the needs of the community," Carey said this week.
Steve Mitchell, accreditation agency program manager, said the new assessment team "is being treated as though the previous team was never there" to ensure the town is given an objective look.
"There wasn't anything wrong with them - except [the department lacked] documentation that showed they complied with everything," he said.
During the process, the agency tries to put the department through a series of checks to make sure it is ready for the final review.
"We don't deny accreditation, period," Mitchell said. Instead, the departments conduct a self-assessment to determine what areas need to be improved to reach accreditation.
Participating in the accreditation program is voluntary, but is a highly prized recognition of professional excellence, according to a department news release.
If accredited, Blacksburg would join more than 220 other departments - including Roanoke County's - that have met the standards that the Virginia-based commission has established. Accreditation is for five years and annual reports must be submitted to demonstrate continued compliance with the standards.
by CNB