County Legislature Recognizes Rockland Sheriff’s Office For Achieving New Accreditation

The Rockland County Legislature has recognized the Rockland County Sheriff’s Office for successfully achieving reaccreditation by New York State.

“The Rockland County Sheriff’s Office has reached a true and impressive milestone – the reaccreditation of all four of its divisions: the Police, Civil Enforcement, Communications and Corrections Divisions,” Rockland County Legislator Aron Wieder said. “It’s an impressive achievement because of the 62 counties in the state of New York, the Rockland County Sheriff’s Office is one of only four counties that have all divisions within their departments accredited.”

The Rockland Sheriff’s Office had to undergo a rigorous professional assessment and had to demonstrate that each division complied with the professional standards of law enforcement established by the New York State Sheriff’s Association and the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services.

In addition to the reaccreditation of each division, the Corrections Division’s Medical Care Services has earned accreditation from the National Commission On Correctional Health Care, again, only after meeting strict standards.

“When we talk about these achievements, we need to understand that there are real people – men and women – who have worked tremendously hard under the leadership of Sheriff Louis Falco III to rise up to these standards and to continue to abide by them,” Legislator Wieder said.

The department also includes multiple specialty units – Crime Scene Investigation, Bomb Unit, Fire Investigation, K9, a Mounted Unit, Marine Patrol, Tactical Response and Computer Crimes Investigation.

The Rockland County Sheriff’s Office is one of 165 out of a total of 546 law enforcement agencies in the state that are accredited, Sheriff Louis Falco III said. He also said accreditation was important because it led to greater administrative and operational effectiveness; promoted public transparency; diminished the vulnerability to lawsuits; offered assurance of fair recruitment and promotions; and promoted greater public confidence in the Sheriff’s Office.

“This recognition is truly a testament to the hard work, dedication and professionalism of the men and women of the Rockland County Sheriff’s Office,” Sheriff Falco said. “These accreditations are arduous undertakings done by individual divisions and individual members of the divisions that were assigned to achieve this goal and meet the standards.”

Among its work, the Sheriff’s Office annually removes hundreds of drunk drivers from our roads and goes into schools with driving simulators to teach students about the dangers of drinking and driving and texting and driving.

When you call 911, it’s a Sheriff’s Dispatcher who answers that lifeline and sends help, whether it’s because a senior citizen has fallen, a group of hikers is lost in the woods, there’s a car accident or as happened Friday, a massive brush fire has broken out and quickly spread. When a stranger attacked a group of innocent people celebrating Hanukah several years ago, the Sheriff’s Office was there to help aid victims and to search for the attacker.

“We are all better off because the Rockland County Sheriff’s Office actively engages in ways to be as professional and efficient as possible, with the good of the community always in mind,” Rockland County Legislature Chairman Jay Hood Jr. said.

In honor of their efforts and in recognition of achieving reaccreditation, the Rockland County Legislature’s highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award, was presented to the Rockland County Sheriff’s Office.

The Communications Division was also cited with a Proclamation as part of National Public Safety Telecommunications’ Week. Dispatchers do not simply answer the phone and then send someone else to actually help. Repeatedly, the Sheriff’s 911 dispatchers have provided instructions over the phone that have helped save lives.