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Police Need Comments For Accreditation

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By GEORGE H. NEWMAN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 31, 2007

PLANT CITY - The Plant City Police Department is seeking to renew the state accreditation it first received in 2004.

Part of the process will include public input phoned in between 1 and 5 p.m. Nov. 7. Members of the Commission of Florida Accreditation will survey those recorded comments as part of the detailed evaluation of the department.

Plant City police Capt. John Borders expects the accreditation to be renewed.

'Our training regimen, our record-keeping and operations procedures have continued to improve,' Borders said. 'The new facility we are in has helped us to improve our ability to perform in all aspects of law enforcement.'

At the time of the first accreditation, the city's police were headquartered in a converted Publix grocery store that was cramped for space and renovated countless times to serve the department's evolving requirements.

The new headquarters at 1 Police Place, off Alexander Street, is designed to fit specific needs, Borders said.

'Classrooms, training facilities, lockers, storage, holding cells, interview rooms, in-house firing range, laboratories and evidence handling have all been built into our new facility,' he said.

Capt. Darrell Wilson posted a notice of the upcoming accreditation on the police Web site at www.pcpd.us on Oct. 19. Members of the commission will arrive Tuesday to examine all aspects of the agency's policies, procedures, operations and services.

'Our department has to comply with approximately 250 standards in order to maintain our accredited status,' Wilson said.

The accreditation manager for the Plant City Police Department is Detective Tray Towles.

'The accreditation assessment team is composed of law enforcement officials from agencies similar to our own,' Towles said.

Members of the department and the public are invited to call (813) 707-2215 on Nov. 7 to offer their comments. Calls are limited to 10 minutes and must address the agency's ability to comply with the commission's standards. A copy of the standards is available through Wilson, the public information officer for the Plant City Police Department.

For more information regarding accreditation or to offer written comments about the Plant City Police Department's ability to meet the standards, please write: CFA, 3504 Lake Lynda Drive, Suite 380, Orlando FL 32817.

Once the commission's assessors complete their review of the police department they report back to the full commission, which will then decide whether the agency is to receive accreditation.

Verification by the team that the Plant City Police Department meets the commission's standards is part of a voluntary process to maintain accreditation - a prized recognition of law enforcement professional excellence.

Reporter George H. Newman can be reached at (813) 865-4451 or gnewman@tampatrib.com.

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