Agency Accreditation Took Place This Morning

Sheriff Rebecca Spiess & GJPC Chief John Camper

Agency Earns Accreditation, One Of Three In State

Written by Callie Varra, MCSO Intern

Today, the Mesa County Sheriff's Office is named one of three sheriff's offices in Colorado to be  accredited through the CSOC/CACP Professional Standards Committee. Chief John Camper of the GJPD presented this distinction to Sheriff Rebecca Spiess, after the department underwent six months of review.

Sheriff  Spiess & Susan Redmond

 "This is not easy," said GJPD Chief John Camper, "There are 213 established professional standards; this agency met or exceeded all the established standards."

Currently, seventeen percent of all law enforcement agencies are accredited making this process rigorous, according to CSOS/CACP. The MCSO assessor Susan Redmond felt that during her initial audit, this agency already met most requirements.

"This accreditation in itself is a piece of paper, but I think the bigger message is that we strive to provide excellent police work out in the community and this is just more evidence of that," said Redmond, the agency's Audit and Compliance Manager.

Accreditation Certificate

Although this accreditation is one to be proud of, the MCSO remembers that each day, employees main effort is to serve the community by continuing to do excellent work, despite the recognition.

"We are noted for our humility. We go out and do our jobs and we don't necessarily have to be accredited to do a great job, but it is certainly an honor,"says Sheriff Rebecca Spiess.

The accreditation is good for five years, when thereafter the sheriff's office plans to renew this distinction.We share this distinction with Arapahoe & Chaffee Counties.

*Accreditation is regarded as one of the key benchmarks for measuring the quality of an organization. Preparing for accreditation gave us an opportunity to identify our strengths and opportunities for improvement, primarily in policy and procedure, but also in SOPs. The process provided information for command to make decisions regarding operations (in all aspects of the agency) in order to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of performance, work product, liability and much more.
CSOC-- County Sheriffs of Colorado
CACP-- Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police