By Allison Musante, Staff Writer
WEST WINDSOR The township police department will be recommended for re-accreditation with the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police, in alliance with the New Jersey Law Enforcement Accreditation Commission.
A team of assessors from NJSACOP conducted an on-site evaluation on Nov. 21 to examine the department’s policies and procedures, management, operations and support services to see if they complied with NJLEAC standards.
”From here, the assessors will recommend to the commission that we deserve accreditation, and myself and Chief Pica will go before the commission when it meets in the spring to get our official accreditation,” said Sgt. William Bastedo, the department’s accreditation manager. “But we have every reason to believe we’ll get re-accredited.”
The accreditation is a voluntary process that recognizes a standard of “law enforcement professional excellence,” Chief Joseph Pica said in a statement. The department received its first accreditation in May 2007, and the periods of accreditation last from three to four years.
As part of the on-site assessment, the assessors, who are law enforcement practitioners from similar departments within the state, measured the department’s compliance with a total of 112 standards by reviewing the department’s documentation of compliance, interviewing employees and observing the offices.
Department employees and members of the community were also invited to offer comments to the accreditation assessors on whether the department was meeting accreditation standards.If the department is granted re-accreditation status in the spring, it must submit annual reports attesting to its continued compliance.
