The Mississippi State University Police Department will soon become the first university police force in the state to attain national accreditation.
Accreditation officer Terry Wheeler said the department had to meet nearly 500 national standards of conduct to attain the accreditation.
In March, Wheeler will appear in Birmingham before a panel from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies to receive the official certificate of accreditation, he said.
An agent from the commission visited campus in December and examined all aspects of the police department.
“They were very impressed with our campus and community relations,” Wheeler said.
The campus police department is a full-time, full-service agency and having national accreditation will mean a safer campus for students, faculty, alumni and parents.
“This is a big boost of confidence for all the officers on staff,” Wheeler said.
The police department has been working on their accreditation for the past three years, Assistant Chief Georgia Lindley said.
“We have developed a policy and procedures manual and set certain standards on a wide variety of topics,” she said. “We have also added (Wheeler) to our staff. It has been his full-time job for the past two years to help us with the accreditation process. He is invaluable because he knows what to expect.”
Wheeler said he has helped the department develop a set of standard files recognized by the commission that give guidelines for handling certain problems and behaviors in accordance with state law.
“Other police departments will be able to use the guidelines we have set up,” Chief Tom Johnson said.
“Being accredited will put us in a small ‘fraternity’ of agencies from around the country that have met the more than 480 national standards,” Wheeler said.
He said only 18 percent of law enforcement agencies in the country have met these standards.
In addition to being nominated for national accreditation, the MSU police department can boast that its police chief is one of the founding members of the Mississippi Law Enforcement Accreditation Commission. Johnson has been appointed to serve a three-year term with the commission helping other law enforcement agencies in the state achieve statewide accreditation.
“There are more than 100 statewide very important standards, including the use of force and arrest procedures,” Johnson said. “Most agencies are already following these standards and the process will be easy.”
Johnson named his individual responsibilities to the Commission to include setting up bylaws and protocols and voting on whether or not different agencies qualify for state accreditation. He also “has no doubt” that he will also be involved in traveling around Mississippi assessing different agencies in the state.