In October, Corey Rowley took over as Camp Verde’s marshal. The new leader of the office came to town stating a priority of furthering accountability.
He proclaimed a motto of “Setting the PACE,” with PACE standing for Professionalism, Accountability, Community and Excellence.
Rowley is now leading the Camp Verde Marshal’s Office on a quest to get accredited by the Arizona Law Enforcement Accreditation Program, beginning its process on July 16.
“The accreditation process through the Arizona Law Enforcement Accreditation Program requires an intensive review of the department’s policies and procedures to ensure they are consistent with best practices in law enforcement and will allow the marshal’s office to demonstrate both to our officers and the public that we are holding ourselves account- able to the highest possible standards,” Rowley stated in a press release.
ALEAP is a division of the Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police. More than a dozen police departments throughout the state have undergone the assessment. The process is implemented by a team of active or retired police command officers from around the state of Arizona. The accreditation judges the department on a series of 174 different rubrics, which all must be judged satisfactory for the accreditation.
This month, the CVMO began its first step of the process with an application, which will then be followed by up two years of self-assessment. An on-site assessment will come with two assessors visiting the office for two days, before the totality of the application is judged by a commission to award the accreditation. ALEAP will then continue to monitor the CVMO with annual reports to maintain compliance and allow for re-accreditation.
According to a presentation that Sergeant Steven Butler gave to the CVMO staff, the benefits of the accreditation process would be:
- “Objective, outside stamp of approval earned through diligent internal and then external evaluation based on the standards.
- Potential decreased litigation and exposure due to subscribing to best practices.
- Continuous self assessment of the agency.
- Enhanced knowledge of written directives.
- Broaden employee perspective.
- Public confidence, increased effectiveness, credibility in government.”
“Accreditation results in greater accountability within the agency, reduced risk and liability exposure, stronger defense against civil lawsuits, increased community advocacy and more confidence in the agency’s ability to operate efficiently and respond to community needs,” Rowley stated.
