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Public Safety wins 3rd reaccreditation
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by Connor Watkins
Public Relations
Since receiving its first national accreditation as an accomplished
public safety agency in 1999, MUSC’s Department of Public Safety
continues its focus and mission of public service by maintaining a safe
and secure environment for MUSC faculty, staff, students, patients and
their families.
For the third consecutive time, Public Safety won re-accreditation by
the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) in
June. CALEA accreditation is good for three years, in which agencies
must show continuous proof of compliance. With this professional
approval, MUSC continues to be the only stand-alone academic medical
university in the nation to receive accreditation, and currently is the
only accredited college or institution in South Carolina to achieve
this distinction.
 Public
Safety Accreditation manager Debbie W. Underwood, from left, joins Lisa
Montgomery, vice president for Finance & Administration, Stewart
Mixon, Chief Operations Officer, and Chief Anthony Dunbar, Public
Safety director, celebrate their re-accreditation.
Public Safety staff worked hard to maintain records and provide
required information needed to meet CALEA’s 460 accreditation
standards. MUSC was 100 percent compliant to all of CALEA’s applicable
standards.
Though the department previously received reaccreditation before, this year’s cycle had its fill of challenges to overcome.
“Reaccreditation was extremely challenging this cycle,” said Debbie
Waggenbrenner Underwood, Public Safety accreditation manager. “The
accreditation standards experienced a complete revision which required
a revision of policies and procedures. The relocation of our
communications function provided an additional set of obstacles that we
had not experienced in prior assessments. Top-down commitment to
accreditation from the university and the department, combined with the
fact that policy has become practice at Public Safety, contributed
greatly to our recent successful reaccreditation.”
In addition, MUSC joins nine other state law enforcement agencies which
are accredited by both the South Carolina Police Accreditation
Coalition Inc. (SCPAC) and CALEA.
SCPAC has accredited 40 law enforcement agencies throughout the state
and assists public safety programs in developing policies and setting
goals. A primary advantage for state accreditation is that it requires
law enforcement agencies to comply with approximately 25 percent of the
standards that are necessary for international accreditation.
“To become state accredited is like a stepping stone,” said Terrence
Green, chief of police at the Lexington Police Department in Lexington
and a SCPAC accrediting representative. “Standards were already in
place that were modeled after CALEA. The process made it that much
easier when participating assessors came through.”
CALEA was created in 1979 as an independent accrediting authority for
law enforcement agencies and programs with the International
Association of Chiefs of Police, National Organization of Black Law
Enforcement Executives, National Sheriff’s Association and Police
Executive Research Forum. CALEA uses the accrediting process to improve
the delivery of public safety services, encourage efficient use of
resources, and give law enforcement agencies the opportunity to show
that they meet the standards necessary for accreditation.
To be eligible for accreditation, law enforcement agencies must first
enroll in the organization’s law enforcement accreditation program.
After establish-ing an accreditation agreement, agencies submit to a
three-year accreditation process plan where they must comply with CALEA
standards and submit to an on-site assessment guided by trained
assessors. The assessors evaluate the agency’s operations in accordance
to CALEA standards and also give the public a chance to submit their
views of the local law enforcement agency. As part of the community
feedback part of the assessment, Public Safety received 19 calls, all
of which gave positive feedback. Callers included hospital employees,
students, healthcare professionals and other local law enforcement
agencies.
“This was our chance for peer review,” said Chief Anthony Dunbar,
director of MUSC Department of Public Safety. “It was our chance to
have our peers look at what we’re doing and tell us if we’re doing the
things that meet the national standards, what we can do better, and
where we have deficiencies.”
Once the assessment is complete, the commission’s accreditation review
committee holds hearings during the triennial CALEA Conference. If the
committees feel that the agency has met CALEA standards, the agency is
awarded accreditation.
Entering into its fourth accreditation cycle, Public Safety plans to
strive for perfection, according to Dunbar. He also hopes the
department will continue to serve as a model for other statewide and
national university law enforcement institutions.
Thursday, Aug. 7, 2009
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