Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA):
The CALEA accreditation process enables law enforcement agencies to voluntarily demonstrate that they meet professionally-recognized criteria for excellence in management and service delivery. The 458 professional standards address nine major law enforcement subjects: role, responsibilities, and relationships with other agencies; organization, management and administration; personnel structure; personnel process; operations; operational support; traffic operations; prisoner and court-related activities; and auxiliary and technical service.
Complying with these standards helps law enforcement agencies: strengthen crime prevention and control capabilities; formalize essential management procedures; establish fair and nondiscriminatory personnel practices; improve service-delivery; solidify interagency cooperation and coordination; and boost citizen and staff confidence in the agency.
The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office is proud to claim that it was the first Sheriff’s Office in the State of Ohio to become a CALEA accredited law enforcement agency. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office has continually held this accreditation since November 9, 1986, completing on-site assessments every four years.
The American Correctional Association (ACA):
ACA is a multi-disciplinary organization of professionals representing all facets of corrections and criminal justice, including federal, state, and military correctional facilities and prisons; county jails and detention centers; probation/parole agencies; and community corrections/halfway houses. The ACA serves as the umbrella organization for all areas of corrections, providing a broad base of expertise that no other organization in the world can offer to this growing field.
ACA has adopted the following fundamental principles to guide the profession: Humanity: The dignity of individuals, the rights of all persons, and the potential for human growth and development must be respected. Justice: Corrections must demonstrate integrity, respect, dignity, and fairness and pursue a balanced program of humaneness, restoration, rehabilitation, and the most appropriate sanctions consistent with public safety. Protection: Corrections has a duty to ensure the protection of the public, offenders under corrections supervision, corrections workers, and victims and survivors of crime. Opportunity: Corrections is responsible for providing seven programs and constructive activities that promote positive change for responsible citizenship. Knowledge: Corrections must be committed to pursuing a continual search for new knowledge, technological advances, effective practices and partnerships that strive toward excellence and positive change. Competence: Corrections administrators, supervisors and line employees should be professionally competent and committed to conducting their responsibilities in accordance with professional standards. Accountability: Corrections officials shall ensure accountability regarding the treatment and management of offenders, selection and performance of staff, and the interface with the community and victims
The Corrections Certification Program offers correctional staff a national, volunteer method of certification. The 384 professional standards in the program are designed to increase the knowledge and skill levels of correctional staff; promote the capabilities and professionalism of correctional staff to the public; enhance the image of corrections and its personnel; assist corrections in recruiting and retaining qualified staff; and encourage correctional organizations to maintain a standard of high performance for staff to achieve.
The Montgomery County Jail has been ACA accredited since August 8, 1999. To maintain the accredited status, the ACA sends a team of auditors to the Jail once every three years. The auditors inspect the operations and cleanliness of the Jail, as well as policies and procedures.
National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC):
Accreditation by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC) is a process of external peer review in which NCCHC, a private non-governmental association, grants public recognition to detention and correctional institutions that meet the nationally established and accepted standards for the provision of health services. NCCHC’s accreditation program renders a professional judgement regarding health services provided in detention and correctional settings, and assists in their continued improvement. Since the 1970’s, NCCHC has offered a voluntary accreditation program based on national standards established by the health, legal, and corrections professions. The areas covered by these standards include facility governance and administration, managing a safe and healthy environment, personnel and training, health care services support, inmate care and treatment, health promotion and disease prevention, special inmate needs and services, health records, and medical-legal issues.
The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Jail Health Care Division has been accredited by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care since 2001. Our agency has grown with the changes in health care technology, medical and mental health treatment provision techniques, and numerous ethical and legal adjustments over the past three decades with accreditation being maintained throughout. NCCHC conducts an on-site accreditation audit every three years.
CALEA Public Safety Communications Accreditation Program (PSCAP):
PSCAP provides the Montgomery County Regional Dispatch Center (RDC) with a process to systemically review and internally assess its operations and procedures. The 207 professional standards upon which the PSCAP is based reflect the current thinking and experience of public safety communications executives and accreditation experts.
PSCAP requires the RDC to develop a comprehensive, well thought out uniform set of written directives. This is one of the most successful methods for reaching administrative and operational goals, while also providing direction to personnel. The standards require reports and analyses the Sheriff’s Office needs to make fact-based, informed management decisions.
Maintaining accreditation is a means for developing or improving upon the RDC’s relationship with the community and the agencies it services. It strengthens the agency’s accountability, both within the agency and the community, through a continuum of standards that clearly define authority, performance, and responsibilities.
In pursuit of professional excellence, the Montgomery County Regional Dispatch Center became PSCAP accredited in 2010. Since that time, the agency has maintained accreditation status, undergoing an on-site assessment every four years.
CERTIFICATIONS
Ohio Bureau of Adult Detention (BAD):
In accordance with Ohio Revised Code (ORC) 5120.10 and Executive Order 92-03, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, Bureau of Adult Detention (BAD) sends an auditor for an annual inspection of the Jail as well as a review of the policies and procedures. There are 179 BAD standards. To meet the requirements of these standards, the Montgomery County Jail has to comply with 100% of the Essential Standards and at least 90% of the Important Standards each year.
The BAD standards help ensure that correctional facilities are operated professionally. They address services, programs and operations essential to good correctional management, including administrative and fiscal controls, staff training and development, physical plant, safety and emergency procedures, sanitation, food service, rules, and discipline. The standards reflect practical, up-to-date policies and procedures that safeguard the life, health and safety of staff, inmates, and visitors.
Ohio Collaboration Law Enforcement Certification:
In 2016, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office was the first Sheriff’s Office in Ohio to receive the provisional certification from the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board. This certification is awarded because the Sheriff’s Office has adopted and fully implemented the state standards established by the Collaborative.
These standards are part of the state’s efforts to strengthen community and police relations. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office became certified by meeting new statewide standards for the use of force, including deadly force and agency recruitment and hiring practices. These standards are the first of their kind in Ohio.
Federal Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA):
The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) was passed in 2003. The purpose of the act was to “provide for the analysis of the incidence and effects of prison rape in Federal, State, and local institutions and to provide information, resources, recommendations, and funds to protect individuals from prison rape.”
The act also created the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission and charged it with developing draft standards for the elimination of prison rape. Those standards were published in June 2009, and were turned over to the Department of Justice for review and passage as a final rule. That final rule became effective August 20, 2012.
An auditor from the Bureau of Justice Assistance US Department of Justice will conduct a triennial audit. During the audit, they inspect the Montgomery County Jail facility, policies, and procedures. On May 11, 2015, the Jail received their first PREA audit report stating that the Jail meets and sometimes exceeds all applicable standards.
OTHER AWARDS:
National Sheriff’s Association (NSA) Triple Crown Award:
The Triple Crown Award was established by NSA to recognize those sheriff's offices that achieve simultaneous accreditation from the Commission on the Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA), the American Correctional Association's Commission on Accreditation for Corrections (ACA) and the National Commission on Correctional Healthcare (NCCHC). Achieving these accreditations individually is a daunting task. Acquiring all three at the same time is an extraordinary feat. In fact, the Triple Crown distinction is so rare, that since the establishment of the award in 1993, fewer than 100 sheriffs' offices in the nation have qualified. Sheriff Phil Plummer received this prestigious award in 2013.