The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office has been awarded accreditation from the New Jersey Association of Chiefs of Police through its New Jersey Law Enforcement Accreditation Program (NJLEAC), acting Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni announced.
The NJLEAC accreditation was completed within an eight-phase process that started with an application and evolved through self-assessment, policy development, mock assessment, an on-site review, a public hearing, commission review and finally accreditation, according to a press release.
The NJLEAC accreditation process required an in-depth review of every aspect of the prosecutor’s office’s organization, management, operations and administration. To achieve accreditation, the prosecutor’s office was required to comply with best practice standards in four areas: policy and procedures, administration, operations, and support services.
“This accreditation serves as a yardstick to measure the professionalism of our office and recognizes our commitment to providing the highest level of effectiveness within our programs and services,” Gramiccioni said.
With this accreditation, the prosecutor’s office joins the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office in making Monmouth County the first county in New Jersey to boast that its county-level law enforcement agencies have achieved this important milestone, according to the press release.
“We are committed to providing excellence and professionalism for all countylevel operations, and through this accreditation we demonstrate our commitment to protect and serve the citizens of Monmouth County,” Freeholder Director Thomas A. Arnone said.
The NJLEAC accreditation was awarded following a review of a variety of issues, the use of force; recruitment, selection and promotion of personnel; training; investigations; and the collection, preservation and control of evidence and property, as well as other standards involving the prosecutor’s office’s law enforcement function.
“We are proud to be the first county in the state to have all our county-level law enforcement agencies achieve this accreditation, and we will continue to provide the professionalism and dedication needed to maintain the standards set down by this process,” Freeholder Lillian G. Burry said.
The mission of the prosecutor’s office is to create and preserve an environment of safety and security for the citizens of Monmouth County. To accomplish this mission, certain traditional and non-traditional taskoriented goals have been adopted to provide a framework for each office to conduct business, according to the press release.
Primary among the goals of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office are:
To protect the life and property of the citizens by successfully investigating and prosecuting criminal offenses that occur in Monmouth County;
To promote and foster education of the public about the criminal justice system, crime prevention and victims’ rights;
To identify law enforcement and prosecutorial needs in a changing environment and to promulgate initiatives to meet those changing needs;
To promote and foster cooperation with other law enforcement, public service and prosecutorial entities having jurisdiction in Monmouth County;
To fulfill a public-sector leadership role in the community by forming cooperative partnerships with other agencies, public officials, community leaders and business leaders in an effort to improve the quality of life for the people of Monmouth County.
“Every subdivision, subsection or unit of the prosecutor’s office has as its individual mission one or more of these goals, and it is this integration of mission and goals which enables the business of the prosecutor’s office to be conducted,” Gramiccioni said.
“This accreditation speaks volumes for our office and the level of professionalism the men and women within the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office strive for every day,” Michael Pasterchick, Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office chief of detectives, said.