NCSO Accreditation Press Release:

After years of preparation, the Northumberland County Sheriff’s Office is officially an accredited agency.

NCSO received their initial accreditation from the Virginia Law Enforcement Professional Standards Commission on June 9th at a ceremony in Richmond Virginia and were officially recognized by the Northumberland County Board of Supervisors at their October 13th meeting.

After saying a few words about what it means to be accredited and the rigorousness of the procedure, Chairman of the Commission and Westmoreland County Sheriff C.O Balderson presented Sheriff Beauchamp with the accreditation certificate.

The accreditation standards are broken down into 4 categories. Administration, Operations, Personnel, and Training.  The accreditation process requires having policies and procedures that meet 191 standards and then providing 578 proofs that show your agency is following your policy.

Meeting these standards ensures that law enforcement agencies are transparent, accountable, and adhering to state and federally recognized best practices. In short, it ensures the citizens are receiving the best and most efficient service from their law enforcement agency.

During the presentation Sheriff Beauchamp stated that he is very proud of his entire office for this accomplishment. Without buy in from every dispatcher, deputy, and civilian employee this would not have been possible. Going forward the re-accreditation process is every 4 years and keeping the certification will be the hard part, but he has full faith in his office to continue the process for years to come.

Pictured L to R:

Major: Allen Garland, Sheriff: Johnny Beauchamp, VLEPSC chairman/WCSO Sheriff: C.O. Balderson, Former Accreditation Mgr.: Doc Lyons, Accreditation Mgr.: Greg Keyser