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On Thursday, 09/12/2024, Sheriff Derek R. Osborne, Undersheriff Jennifer K. Olin, and Lieutenant Kyle Koskinen, were invited to the NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services in Albany, NY where they were presented a Certificate of Accreditation for the Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office’s Law Enforcement Division.
The certificate reads, “The Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office has demonstrated a high level of excellence and professionalism in the field of law enforcement by meeting the standards established by the New York State Law Enforcement Accreditation Council”.
The Law Enforcement Agency Accreditation Program is a voluntary program designed to improve an agency’s effectiveness, efficiency and professionalism, promote training, and foster public confidence in law enforcement. Police departments and sheriff’s offices are eligible to participate in the program.
Participating agencies must meet standards in three categories: Administration, Training, and Operations. Accreditation provides formal recognition that an agency meets or exceeds expectations of quality; demonstrates that the agency performs professionally, has formalized policies in place to govern its operational practices and procedures and that its employees contribute to the agency's mission and know what is expected of them.
Only 1/3 of law enforcement agencies in New York State possess this credential, and the Sheriff’s Office is the only municipal agency in Tompkins County to have it.
The program has established 112 standards based on known best practices that an agency must meet. The process included three assessors who reviewed policies remotely, followed by an in-person three-day review at the sheriff’s office. During the assessment, policies are reviewed, proofs that the policies are followed are examined, and employees are questioned for their knowledge of them. The accreditation is good through 09/11/2029.
Sheriff Osborne stated, “Accreditation has been a goal of our administration for the past 6 years, and achieving it is a testament to our commitment to serve our community to the best of our ability”. Sheriff Osborne would like to give credit to Undersheriff Olin who served as the program manager during the process and was instrumental in achieving this for his office. “Without her, none of this could have happened”.
The Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office is at the forefront of transparency, placing internal policies on its website, a means for the community to provide input or suggestions on them, as well as a transparency hub that provides the community with statistics regarding law enforcement activities.
The Corrections Division also received voluntary re-accreditation recently through a program established by the NYS Sheriff's Association.
Photo: From L to R - Sheriff Osborne 1, Gregory Austin (Chair of Law Enforcement Agency Accreditation Council) 2, Michael Bonse (Deputy Commissioner DCJS) 3, Undersheriff Olin 4, Lt. Koskinen 5.
