CALEA Accreditation

Your Washington County Sheriff's Office proudly became nationally accredited on July 1, 2004, by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA). Accreditation must be renewed every three years during an onsite inspection. Our most recent inspection was in May of this year and our reaccreditation hearing will be in November 2013.

You may have heard of accreditation programs in other fields such as education or health care. CALEA provides a similar quality assurance and inspection system in the law enforcement field.

By choosing to be accredited through CALEA, your Sheriff's Office voluntarily accepted the challenge to meet the most rigorous set of standards designed for law enforcement in the United States. We agreed to meet all the standards applicable to the largest size agency defined by CALEA, and to prove compliance with those standards on a continual basis through documentation and inspection. Inspections occur both internally and every three years by a team of law enforcement professionals chosen by CALEA from non-bordering jurisdictions.

CALEA standards apply to patrol, investigations, administration, crime prevention, property and evidence, court security, special teams such as the Westside Interagency Narcotics Team, the Fraud and Identity Theft Enforcement Team, the Tactical and Hostage Negotiations Teams; the Reserves, Posse, and Explorers programs, and all areas of Sheriff's Office operations. The only exception is the secure portion of the Washington County Jail, which meets the Oregon Jail Standards.

We are careful to remember that while accreditation is a mark of excellence, it does not mean that improvements cannot be made. Feedback that the commanders and I receive on the work performed for citizens is still highly regarded. Please use the options available on our website or write or call our office to let us know of your experiences with our services and employees.

We thank all the citizens for their support of the Sheriff's Office over the years, and look forward to continuing to improve our services to the many cities and communities that comprise Washington County.

Sincerely, 

Pat Garrett, Sheriff