PAC Chat. President s Corner. New members. Accreditation News You Can Use VOLUME 2, NUMBER 1 FEBRUARY, 2004

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1 PAC Chat Accreditation News You Can Use VOLUME 2, NUMBER 1 FEBRUARY, 2004 President s Corner Random musings from our fearless leader. Butch Arenal, Punta Gorda P.D. As we prepare to descend upon Crystal River for our February conference, I am very pleased to report there are a large number of positive things to discuss about the direction and advancement of the nation s number one accreditation coalition, FLA-PAC! Our organization continues to grow with the addition of five (5) new member agencies. The Melbourne Village Police Department, Lake New members Florida Department of Financial Services, Division of Insurance Fraud Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement County Sheriff s Office, State of Florida Division of Insurance Fraud, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and the University of North Florida Police Department have all joined our ranks, placing our current membership at 190 Florida agencies! Yes, my friends, that puts us ten away from the 200 agency mark. No other state PAC (or multi-state PAC) offers a membership of this diversity and number. Please join me in welcoming our newest member agencies and their representatives into our family. We celebrate in Crystal River a significant historical event, the first visit from the Executive Director of CALEA, Sylvester Daughtry, Jr.. Director Daughtry will address the PAC membership at our Thursday business meeting and will answer any questions concerning CALEA programs. A number of PAC representatives have diligently worked to properly welcome Director Daughtry to FLA-PAC for the first time, and he is excited about the visit as well. I ask you all to welcome Director Daughtry to Florida as we put our best foot forward and show him why Florida is where it s at when it comes to Accreditation. In just the past three months, your Executive Board and Committee Chairs have been feverishly working in furtherance of a number of lofty goals Lake County Sheriff's Office Melbourne Village Police Department University of North Florida Police Department Welcome to the PAC! In This Issue: ACA Update 2 FEATURE ARTICLE 2 On the Move 5 Meeting the Standards 6 Conference News 7 PAC Web 8 Best of the PAC 8 Public Safety Communications Accred. in Fla. 9 ACA Medal of Valor 10 Editor s Message 10 Conference Images 11

2 we have set for ourselves. A new conference committee has been formed to enhance the delivery of our Florida Accreditation Week conferences. Crystal River will mark the ratification of our updated PAC bylaws, our new website hosting agreement has been signed, and we are closing in on an agreement to move PAC merchandising to a web-based marketing program. These are just a few of our initiatives and accomplishments. Finally, I am in the process of preparing and completing our first State of the PAC Report to the membership on our organization s goals and accomplishments in It is my hope this report will become an annual tradition keeping our membership informed as to where our PAC is, and where our PAC is going. I certainly want to emphasize to each of you how proud I am of the great group of men and women who work so hard to keep our PAC at the forefront of the nation s continuing accreditation surge. Our friends at Citrus County have been working very hard to welcome FLA-PAC to Crystal River. My thanks go to them for this tremendous effort. Don t miss this one, it will be a conference to remember! ACA Update It was announced at the ACA conference in January that 4th edition, which will be "Performance Based Standards," will be out and PAC-Chat 2004 The Florida Police Accreditation Coalition Gary Robinson Craig Roderick Jay Smith Joanne Figdore Margaret Lewis Editorial Staff: PAC-Chat@earthlink.net croderic@largo.com jsmith@balharbourflorida.com jfigdore@sheriff.martin.fl.us Photographer/Historian mlewis@alachuasheriff.org effective later this year. This will be a new era for ACA and a challenge for all who are ACA accredited or are looking to do it. A training class on the Performance Based Standards will be held at the Corrections Accreditation Managers Association (CAMA) conference in Biloxi, Mississippi on May 22-25, Feature Article Living with Law Enforcement By Michael J. Cuttler, Ph.D. CAREER DEVELOPMENT...(And Now for the Really Scary Stuff!) Everybody is talking about Career Development these days. It's one of those things that everyone wants, most departments say they support, and a lot of officers feel they don't get enough of. Depending on what is going on in your life, or what stage of your career you are in, career development can mean learning a new assignment or set of skills, getting a promotion, or preparing yourself for retirement and/or a career outside law enforcement. Recent developments in our society have made career issues in Law Enforcement more important, and more complicated, than they used to be. Law Enforcement is becoming more complex and specialized. Officers are constantly being asked to learn new skills and develop new methods of policing. With increasing frequency, law enforcement officers are being called upon to be social workers, teachers, international diplomats, and community development agents, as well as crime fighters. In response to these changes, many agencies are beefing up their training and career development programs. As such, there should be no shortage of new things to learn or opportunities to develop new career paths. Even so, many officers are uncertain about the effectiveness of these programs and are reluctant to take career development seriously.

3 Some officers I talk to are frustrated because they feel they have not been "allowed" to progress or develop as much as they would like. They often feel they have not been recognized by their department or have been held back by circumstances beyond their control. Others have "burnt out" or lost interest in their current job but have been frustrated in their efforts to obtain new assignments. Still others feel uncertain about their career direction and are "floundering". In spite of all the new things happening in law enforcement, many have a feeling of being trapped and/or victimized by a lack of opportunity in their agencies. They say that although they would like to do something else, the "system" is stacked against them. In spite of this, a number of departments have elaborate, well documented policies and programs for career development. Those that do not have formal programs often provide educational support and development opportunities to officers in a less formalized manner. Whether your department has a formal or informal career development program, the responsibility for its success or failure rests with you, the individual officer. If you are not satisfied with your career, its up to you to get it back on track. All that is required is a little initiative and a slightly different way of looking at your problem. In previous articles, you have heard me state that most law enforcement officers are, by nature, practical and action oriented people who are energized by events rather than theories. As such, law enforcement training emphasizes the ability to respond once something happens but also stresses the need to be patient until something happens. Developing your career requires that you do Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and injustice." Robert F. Kennedy some planning and take some action before anything happens. This may mean learning to prepare for a promotional exam or doing a little research in regard to what skills and qualifications are needed for a particular assignment you might have in mind. Waiting for an opportunity to happen can be a very frustrating experience. Just like tactical situations, taking the initiative and responsibility for career development can be scary but exhilarating. Career development is not something that happens to you, it is something that you make happen. The key to getting your own career development efforts on track is to identify your goals, honestly appraise your strengths and weaknesses, and develop a plan for accomplishing your objectives. To get your personal career development program started, try answering the questions below as honestly as you can. What Do You Want? Now that you have been in Law Enforcement for a while, the chances are you have a pretty realistic view of what the job entails and where you might fit in. Take a look at all the things you do or have done in your career and ask yourself which of them you have enjoyed the most as well as which you have liked the least. Before you set off in one direction or the other, make sure you are comfortable with the course you have chosen. It is also a good idea to make sure that a change in job or a promotion is really going to address your needs. When starting off on a career development program, ask yourself what you are really trying to accomplish? Many officers I see for counseling start off by voicing concerns about their job. It is not uncommon to find, however, that the job is actually only the "target" of an officer's unhappiness and the root of the problem is a personal and/or family issue. Which of your needs will be fulfilled by getting promoted or getting a new assignment? More importantly, which of your needs, concerns and/or problems will not be helped (or may be aggravated) by a different job? Also what life and family difficulties can you anticipate as a result of a change in your job

4 responsibilities? Before you commit to a career development plan, be sure to involve your spouse and family. They can be excellent sources of support and also need to be consulted if it looks like your plans will take you away from family activities or affect your home life. What Is Your Goal? After you ask yourself what you really want, and are sure that a change and/or expansion of job responsibilities is the answer, the next step is to set your goal. It is important to set a goal that is both realistic and attainable within a reasonably short period of time. In addition, it will be necessary to find out what assignments and/or jobs are on the "ladder" associated with your goal. You will also need to find out if any special qualifications and/or personal attributes are needed to climb the ladder towards your objective. Don't make the mistake of setting a goal that is too narrow or inflexible. Try to set your sights on a field that contains a number of jobs and/or assignments rather than a single position. Remember, it may not be possible to achieve every detail of your objective. The broader the objective, the higher the likelihood that you will achieve part, if not all, of your goal. To answer these questions you may have to do a little research. Some departments have carefully delineated job descriptions and task analyses that describe the specific qualifications and attributes associated with each position in the agency. Departments that have formal career development programs will usually make this information available to you if you ask for it and may even assign a career counselor to help you with this process. If your department does not have a formal program, try asking your personnel officer for help. Another good way to find out what is needed for a job is to ask the officer who supervises the job in question for advice. What Have You Got Going for You? (And What Is Holding You Back?) Honest self-appraisal is the cornerstone of any personal development plan. After you identify what is needed to accomplish your goal, it is time to assess the probability of your attaining that goal. If there are specific educational requirements associated with your goal, it is wise to assess how long it would take you to attain them. You will also need to look at your own personal strengths and weaknesses to determine if your goal is a good "fit" with your abilities as well as your personality. This is the point in the process where a good friend or, perhaps, a peer counselor can be the most help. Although most law enforcement officers are fairly open minded, we all have our "blind spots". If there are things you can do to improve your chances, do them. If there are ways in which you have been creating negative impressions, or otherwise "shooting yourself in the foot" admit them and make plans to change. If you have academic weaknesses and/or problems studying for tests, face them and seek help, perhaps at a local community college. More importantly, use your friends and/or counselor as a "sounding board" for your ideas as well as for confirmation of your own self-appraisal. What's Your Plan? (And What Are Your Alternatives?) Once you have a goal, and have done an honest self-appraisal, it's time to put your ideas in motion. Sometimes this may involve making changes that are very noticeable to other people. You may have to "give up" certain attitudes and habits that have kept you "stuck" in the past. More importantly, you will have to commit to a course of action. You will also have to monitor your progress and be prepared to make changes if things do not work out. It is often helpful to have a secondary or "fall back" goal if something happens which makes your original objective impossible or impractical. This is particulary important if your plan calls for you to work towards a highly specialized assignment which may not be available at the time you become qualified. Remember, since the object of your plan is to succeed, give yourself as many ways to succeed as you can.

5 Setting a goal, making a self-appraisal, and developing a plan will significantly improve your chances of attaining your objectives. Make sure your plan is consistent with what you know about yourself after doing your self-appraisal. Don't expect too much of yourself and don't design a plan that calls upon you to become a outgoing diplomat if you are a soft spoken scholar. Likewise, don't plan to take a course in accounting if you have a hard time balancing your checkbook. Make sure your plan contains short term "milestones" against which you can chart your progress. Be prepared to alter your plans if the unexpected occurs or if it looks like your original ideas are not bearing fruit. It is also very important to maintain your supportive relationships with family, friends, peer counselors, etc. Everyone needs encouragement from time to time as well as honest feedback to aid in self-appraisal. In Conclusion: Don't Give Up! Career development, like any self-development plan, requires a personal commitment to change and a whole lot of courage. Once you accept responsibility for what happens to your career, you must also face the possibility that you may not achieve everything you want. Although this can really be scary stuff, you will also find that facing these challenges, putting yourself on the line, and mastering the situation feels pretty good...just like that first scary duty situation you faced when you were a rookie...remember? *************************** Michael J. Cuttler, Ph.D. is a consultant to over 800 law enforcement agencies and is Director of Psychological Services for LESI, Law Enforcement Services, Inc. Greensboro, NC. Article copyright LESI and reprinted with their express permission. LESI has many innovative pre-employment and promotional products that reach beyond the traditional police psychology stereotype. OnlinePHQ, a web-based personal history questionnaire, identifies critical items and provides a report for use by the background investigator in the police applicant qualification process. LESI can be reached on the web at On the Move Member updates (assignments, addresses, promotions, retirements, etc.). Congratulations! Debbie Williams and Elaine Minton of the Escambia County Sheriff's Office Detention Accreditation team each were promoted to Sergeant on September 20, Jeff Cloutier, Alachua County Sheriff s Office, has been promoted to Captain. Nicole Benitez, Collier County Sheriff s Office has been promoted to Sergeant. John Rankin, Seminole County Sheriff s Office, has been promoted to the rank of Inspector. Gary Robinson, retired as Captain from the West Palm Beach Police Department on January 23, began his second career as Major with the Port St. Lucie Police Department on February 2, Greetings and Hello! I thought I would take a few moments to introduce myself as the newest FLA-PAC Committee Chair (Technology); and take the opportunity to thank those who have confidence in me to serve in this position. I currently serve as the Telecommunications and Technology Section Commander at the Daytona Beach Police Department. This section is comprised of the Communications Center, Emergency Operations Center, Emergency Management, and Information Technology Units. The section has 4 supervisory personnel and 34 employees with a budget of approximately 2 million dollars; our agency has in excess of 16 million dollars of electronics and EDP hardware and software. Our current technology has wireless mobile data computers, VisionAir integrated CAD, RMS and field reporting, a department website, and a trunked (800 mhz)

6 radio system. I was certified as a police officer in Florida in 1975 (OK, so I m an old guy). I have a background in radio communications (I ve been a ham radio operator since 1971), and have been playing with computers since the advent of the Commodore Vic-20 computer in the early 80 s. I m married (23 years), and have three children and three grandchildren (I told you I m old!). I m a UCF (Go Knights!) alumni with B.S. and M.S. degrees in Criminal Justice. During the next few weeks I will be making many telephone calls to various FLA-PAC members to obtain suggestions to improve our Internet website. As Florida has been a leader in accreditation and technology issues, it is my belief our website should reflect the same high quality and progressive use of technology as a leader in the accreditation field. I will be exploring how to make the website more user friendly and provide resources and reference materials that will assist FLA-PAC and members If you have any suggestions for the FLA-PAC website, please feel free to forward them to my (and I still accept snail mail and telephone calls!) I look forward to meeting many of you in the near future and extend sincere thanks for the opportunity to serve with many comrades in the public safety arena. Lieutenant Stephen W. Szabo Steve can be reached at: Daytona Beach Police Department Special Services Division szabos@dbpd.us Meeting the Standards CRIMINAL HISTORIES To File or Not to File, That Is the Question! By Captain Cheryl DeGroff-Berry Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement How familiar are you with FCIC rules and restrictions? As an Accreditation Manager or as an Assessor, there are several FCIC issues that affect accreditation: criminal histories, dissemination logs, and computer security. This information is important because it relates to the following CFA standards: A directive establishes a system of case file maintenance for the criminal investigation component, to include: A. Types of records to be maintained; A directive specifies policies and procedures to be followed when using informants, to include: B. Content of the informant file to include biographical and background information, criminal history record, if any, and a code name or number of each informant; M A directive establishes guidelines for meeting FCIC/NCIC regulations concerning criminal histories, to include: B. Dissemination; C. Security of information; A directive establishes procedures for agency utilized computer hardware and software and includes provisions for the following: F. Access restrictions; and G. Authorized usage. One of the most common mistakes I have noticed is when an assessor tells an agency they cannot maintain CRIMINAL HISTORIES (CCH) in any of their agency files. THIS IS INCORRECT! According to Melissa Morrison, FDLE Research and Training Specialist, agencies MAY, in fact, maintain a criminal history in investigative and CI

7 files. Per page 60 of the training manual,...it is recommended that CCH not be retained in case files... Note that it does not say they cannot be maintained. The only place criminal histories cannot be maintained is in closed files available as public record. Please do not make agencies take these documents out of their working files if they want to keep them. If a law enforcement officer used information on the criminal history as probable cause for detention or an arrest, FDLE can recreate the history. The officer does not need to place it where it will become public record. This way, an officer does not have to worry the information will be changed and unavailable by the time the case goes to court. DISSEMINATION LOGS are only required, per page 63,...When a criminal history is released either verbally or physically to an authorized person from another agency That means an agency is not required to maintain a log for distributing these documents to their own employees. They may, if they want to, but it is not required by FCIC. Investigators and others who have criminal histories as part of their investigative or intelligence files and who share a copy or the content with another agency have disseminated the history, and must log it as well. As for SECURITY of the FCIC computers, the location of the computer, monitor and printer are very important. Page 7 requires...the screen must not be visible by unauthorized personnel... Unauthorized personnel cannot have access to the screen, the printer or the keyboard of any designated FCIC computer. These security requirements can be met in a variety of ways, but having the computer in a common workspace is probably not one of them! It wouldn t hurt for every accreditation manager and assessor to obtain a copy of an FCIC II/NCIC Training Manual for your records (this was updated July 2003). If you have CJ NET, the document is available electronically. If not, please call the FDLE Customer Support Center at I hope these hints about FCIC will help everyone. Please do not allow an Assessor to tell you you cannot keep criminal histories in your investigative files if your investigators want to. Make sure you know you are not required to maintain a secondary dissemination log for documenting distribution to your employees. And, lastly, double check that unauthorized personnel do not have access to your FCIC computer and keyboard, and don t forget the printer! If you ever have questions, please call FDLE Customer Support I have found them to be very helpful whenever I have any questions about FCIC rules. Conference News Our Congratulations to Agencies Accredited by CFA and FCAC in October, CALEA in November, and ACA in January: CALEA Accredited: Pasco County Sheriff s Office CALEA Re-accredited: Brevard County Sheriff s Office Lee County Sheriff s Office Manatee County Sheriff s Office Miami Beach Police Department Polk County Sheriff s Office Winter Haven Police Department CFA Accreditation * with CALEA Recognition Florida Department of Transportation, Motor Carrier Compliance Office* Holly Hill Police Department* Lake Wales Police Department St. Petersburg Police Department Winter Springs Police Department*

8 CFA Re-Accreditation * with CALEA Recognition Bartow Police Department* Escambia County Sheriff s Office Florida Department of Law Enforcement Hardee County Sheriff s Office Hillsborough County Sheriff s Office Orlando Police Department* Oviedo Police Department* Palm Beach County Sheriff s Office* Putnam County Sheriff s Office* Royal Palm Beach Police Department Wakulla County Sheriff s Office* FCAC Accreditation Clay County Sheriff's Office Corrections Division Escambia County Sheriff's Office Detention Division FCAC Re-Accreditation Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office Department of Corrections Polk County Sheriff's Office Department of Detention Broward County Sheriff's Office Department of Detention Pinellas County Sheriff's Office Detention and Corrections Bureau Collier County Sheriff's Office Naples Jail Center Monroe County Sheriff's Office Bureau of Corrections Sarasota County Sheriff's Office Corrections Facility Next Meetings: June 21st - 25th, 2004 Trade Winds Island Grand Beach Resort & Conference Center 5500 Gulf Blvd., St. Petersburg Beach, FL resinfo@twresort.com October 4th - 8th, 2004 Hilton Cocoa Beach Oceanfront 1550 North Atlantic Avenue Cocoa Beach, FL Tel.: Toll Free Reservations: stay@hiltoncocoabeach.com PAC Web Websites of interest to the membership with overview/critique of content. Court Decision / Case Law Research Cornell University School of Law operates an excellent, searchable site containing recent and historical case law. Visit them at: Best of the PAC Outstanding/exceptional/exemplary programs Congratulations, Maria!! Maria C. Marino-Bollan, Accreditation Manager for the Delray Beach Police Department, was this year's recipient of the International Association of Law Enforcement Planners (IALEP) Project of the Year Award. IALEP spans from Guam to Hawaii (E-W) and from Canada to New Zealand (N-S). Maria has been a member since This recognition took place on October 2, 2003, at the IALEP annual conference which was held in Colorado Springs, CO. Maria is pictured below with IALEP President Barry Horrobin of the Windsor (Canada) Police Service. The project submitted was a course titled "Effective Report Writing - A Learned Skill. The course included a PowerPoint presentation with tests, evaluations, and class exercises compiled and taught to officers at the request of DBPD s former training officer, Sgt. Fred Parker.

9 Maria can be reached at: Delray Beach Police Department 300 W. Atlantic Avenue Delray Beach, FL (561) Fax: (561) standards. These standards were written and endorsed by the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials International, Inc. (APCO). APCO International is the world's oldest and largest not-for-profit professional organization dedicated to the enhancement of public safety communications. With more than 16,000 members around the world, APCO International exists to serve the people who manage, operate, maintain, and supply public safety communications systems. Application fees for the CALEA Communications Accreditation process vary depending on agency size. CALEA recently announced the creation of a grant to assist smaller agencies. The CALEA Agency Support Fund (CASF) is available to agencies with 50 or less full-time employees seeking initial accreditation who are unable to do so due to lack of adequate funds. Eligible agencies will receive a waiver of the administrative portion of their fees. Photo by IALEP member Capt. Chris Stockard (Ret.), Alaska State Police Public Safety Communications Accreditation in Florida by Debbie Gailbreath Communications Accreditation Manager Sarasota County, Florida, Sheriff's Office Communications Center Accreditation There are currently three communications centers in Florida nationally accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA): the Alachua County Sheriff s Office, the Polk County Sheriff s Office and the Sarasota County Sheriff s Office. Nationally, there are 24 communications centers accredited by CALEA and include Fire, EMS, Law Enforcement, and Emergency Management Communications Centers. The CALEA Communications Accreditation program consists of 214 communications-specific Additional information about CALEA Communications accreditation is available at Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) Accreditation There are currently six communications center in Florida that have received the National Academy of Emergency Medical Dispatch Accredited Center of Excellence Award : American Medical Response, Citrus County Sheriff s Office, City of Miami Fire/Rescue, Collier County Sheriff s Office, Miami-Dade Fire/Rescue, and SunStar Communications. The Sarasota County Sheriff s Office is currently preparing to apply for this accreditation. The EMD accreditation program consists of 20 Points of Accreditation, including requirements for licensing of EMD call-taking positions, Academy training and certification of call-takers, quality assurance and improvement methodology, and minimum 90%-95% EMD protocol compliance level ratings. EMD orientation and feedback from Field units is also required.

10 Additional Information about the National EMD Academy Accreditation is available at Communications Accreditation Assistance In addition to the Florida PAC, information and assistance for communications accreditation is available from the Public Safety Communications Accreditation Support Network ( This web-based program provides resources and networking to public safety communication centers that are accredited or are in the process of being accredited by CALEA. Assistance includes general discussion, training, policy development and standards interpretation. Debbie Gailbreath can be reached at: Fax: American Correctional Association Awards Medal of Valor to Florida Correctional Officer At the ACA winter conference, Sgt. Russell Bourgault, Martin Correctional Institution, Indiantown, was awarded the Medal of Valor for placing himself between an inmate (who had already stabbed him with a makeshift knife) and two correctional officer trainees until assistance arrived. Sgt. Bourgault was quoted as saying: In the state of Florida and across the nation, we risk physical harm daily. Many have been injured by assaults and far too many have lost their lives while performing their duties. It is with great honor that I receive such a prestigious award. I am proud to be a correctional officer. Message from the Editor For those of you reviewing this edition on the web, I am happy to announce the addition of new features to the on-line edition. The PAC-Chat in portable document format (.pdf) now contains active hyperlinks everywhere an address or website is listed. Clicking on any or web address will link you directly into or the website. THIS SPACE RESERVED - FOR YOU! The PAC-Chat needs YOUR input to inform, challenge, and entertain the membership of FLA-PAC. Please remember to forward s, photographs, agency reports, staff studies, member news, and anything else you can think of that comes across your desk on any topic related to any of our accreditation standards, regardless of which commission they apply to. We cannot reprint copyrighted items without permission, but give us a summary and where the article or information can be found, and we will guide our members to it. Send your submissions to: pac-chat@earthlink.net Florida PAC joins ACA in commending Sgt. Bourgault for his courage and dedication.

11 Conference Images Ft. Myers Beach, October 2003