On-Site Accreditation Report - Port Orange Police Department: May 28-30, 1997
Filed by Major Polly Horne, Tampa Police Department

Agency Profile: The Port Orange Police Department serves the approximately 40,000 residents of the second largest incorporated town in Volusia County. Port Orange is a tourist and retirement oriented community on the east coast of Florida. The population is almost entirely white (99%) and adult (82% over the age of 16).

The police department, with 65 sworn and 20 non-sworn employees, provides law-enforcement and animal control services. Its employees are greatly assisted by 186 VIPS (Volunteers in Police Service) who last year provided over 36,000 hours of service. VIPS work in every section of the department and on the street, helping with administrative and office work, vacation home patrol, traffic control, and general patrol. The agency's victim advocate is a volunteer who was named the state's Victim Advocate of the Year.

Another innovative program is the Uniformed Crime Investigator. Patrol officers routinely follow-up with the latent investigation of crimes, resulting in only the most serious or complex crimes referred to detectives. This gives the Port Orange patrol officers the opportunity to gain valuable experience and see a case through from initiation to arrest to court presentation.

On-Site Assessment Summary: The first day of the on-site began with a meeting with Chief Robert Ford, followed by a tour of the headquarters building. All offices are in one building, with the exception of the PAL office and the pistol range. Not all files were ready at the time of the team's arrival, but work began on the files that were available. Some interviews were conducted the first day to verify standard compliance. The open telephone line was operational in the afternoon. Patrol roll call for the night shift was attended by all team members. The officers were questioned about several policies and their answers conformed with the written directives.

The second day included more work in the files and interviews with key agency personnel, such as the captain, lieutenants and a patrol sergeant. One assessor rode with a patrol officer. Since some files still remained incomplete, team members helped by gathering proofs of compliance from various components of the department. This resulted in the conclusion of the on-site before noon of the last day, ending with an exit interview with the chief and key members of his staff. The team was pleased to find the agency in compliance with all applicable standards.

Team members were impressed with the friendliness and helpfulness of all members of the Port Orange Police Department. Everyone, from volunteer to chief, were professional and appeared to be proud of the agency. The hospitality was outstanding; team members were treated to ocean-front hotel rooms and beautiful sunrises everyday!

Standards Summary:

Mandatory Compliance          54
    Noncompliance                 0
Optional Compliance             152
    Noncompliance                 0
    Elect 20%                        32 (17.39%)
Not Applicable                      22

Summary and Recommendations: At the end of the on-site, the Port Orange Police Department was found to be in compliance with all applicable standards. The agency would have benefited greatly from a mock assessment, which would have noted some of the problems encountered by the assessors and allowed the agency to correct them before the official on-site assessment began. The assessors faced:

Agency personnel, however, were extremely helpful and cooperative when asked for assistance and the needed documentation was readily produced.

As often encountered in an initial accreditation, many of the agency's written directives were new, written within the past three months. Chief Ford assured the team that these new procedures will be implemented and proofs of compliance for the entire three-year period will be available at the time of reaccreditation. He also expressed the desire to reduce the number of standards taken as the 20% exemption and aim for eventual 100% compliance with all applicable standards. He supports the goals of law enforcement accreditation and recognizes its value to the profession.