ACA recommends highest ratings for DeKalb Sheriff’s Office

Auditors from the American Correctional Association (ACA) told DeKalb Sheriff Jeffrey L. Mann on Sept. 22 that the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office deserves the national accrediting organization’s highest ratings.

The announcement followed an intensive three-day assessment of operations at the DeKalb Sheriff’s Headquarters and Jail that included tours, reviews of some 388 standards files and policies, observation of jail operations, and random interviews with staff members and jail inmates.

“This very positive review by the ACA auditors is an extremely proud moment for us,” says Sheriff Mann.  “It underscores our commitment to achieving and maintaining the highest possible levels of excellence in public service to DeKalb County.”

ACA accreditation is a voluntary assessment program that takes place every three years for participating agencies.  The DeKalb Sheriff’s Office was first accredited by the ACA in 2007, and it has been accredited in each cycle since then. ACA accreditation is intended to improve facility operations through adherence to clear standards relevant to all areas/operations of the facility, including safety, security, order, inmate care, programs, justice, and administration.

Auditors assess agencies and make a recommendation to the ACA Board for final accreditation decision, scheduled for March 2017.  Assessors say the agency is in compliance with 100 percent of mandatory standards and with 99 percent of its non-mandatory standards.

Current ACA accreditation places the agency among the only 41 of the 3,083 sheriff’s offices nationwide that merit “Triple Crown” status by the National Sheriffs’ Association for consecutive, simultaneous recognition by all three law enforcement’s accrediting organizations.