Accreditation
The Accreditation Unit is part of the Administrative Bureau. The function of the Accreditation Unit is to successfully facilitate
the Agency’s initial accreditation and maintain future compliance with over 1300 accreditation standards.
The Accreditation Unit is managed by the agency’s Accreditation Manager / Staff Inspector and is staffed with three (3) Accreditation
Coordinators, who are responsible for ensuring that the agency maintains compliance with all the applicable professional standards
of each accreditation and inspection process. Each program is a voluntary process, which provides a systematic and internal review
and assessment of the agency’s policies and procedures.
Accreditation serves to distinguish participating organizations as having met professional standards for operations and service.
The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office recognized the need to develop professional standards, just as in other professions – be it
medical, educational, transportation, technological, manufacturing, etc. – organizations strive to reach a certain level of
efficiency and want to inform the public they serve, that they have been recognized by their peers, and others, as being reliable
and qualified to perform those duties.
Law enforcement is no different. As public servants, the level of public trust and accountability is much more critical in this
profession than in any other. Working through the accreditation process and receiving its distinction made sense.
The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office was first accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA)
in 1990, the American Correctional Association (ACA) in 1992, the Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Agencies (CFA) in 1996,
the Florida Corrections Accreditation Commission (FCAC) in 2011, and was PREA Certified in 2014.
Accreditation standards form the basis for providing the Sheriff and members a proven management system of written directives,
sound tracking guidelines, clearly defined lines of authority, and routine reports that support decision making and resource
allocation. Adherence to the standards established by CALEA, ACA, CFA, FCAC, and PREA necessitates periodic, in-depth, review
of all agency operations and components. This continuing process allows the agency to change and evolve along with the needs
of our community. The citizens of Manatee County are assured of a continued level of professionalism through the accreditation
process.
Every Manatee County Sheriff’s Office member is a vital part of the agency’s re-accreditation effort.
The benefits of accreditation for agencies that choose to go through the process and comply with national and state standards
gain professionalism and recognition. When an agency improves its methods and services, it builds understanding, confidence,
and morale within the agency and with the citizens it serves. It also promotes professional relationships within the law
enforcement and criminal justice communities. The accreditation process establishes norms by which agency performance can
be measured, primarily through written directives that become the reference by which action to taken and tasks accomplished.
The process also develops personnel systems, such as selection, hiring, internal discipline, and others, to become effective,
responsive, fair and equitable.
Planning and Research
Law enforcement is an ever-evolving profession. As such, every progressive agency is required to look ahead at future trends,
technology breakthroughs and changes in the law in order to employee the best practices and latest advances in tactics and
technology. The Manatee County Sheriff's Office is certainly no exception.
Planning and Research is responsible for constantly reviewing policies and procedures, comparing them to current law and best
practices and then making g the necessary policy adjustments.
This unit conducts regularly scheduled inspections of all areas of the agency in an effort to ensure that our policies and
procedures are being followed. It assists in managing the written directive system for the Agency. Provides fact-finding
capability to ensure that goals and objectives are met through the triennial staff inspection of all components and the
special inspection of selected components, and provide research capability to staff.
