On Wednesday March 7th, Chief Steven D’Agata and Sergeant Robert Morse attended the quarterly meeting of the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services Accreditation Council. At the meeting the 19-member council voted to grant New York State Accreditation to the Village of Liberty Police Department. 

The New York State Accreditation program is a voluntary program administered by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services designed to improve an agency’s effectiveness, efficiency and professionalism; promote training and foster public confidence in law enforcement. 

All New York State police departments and sheriffs’ offices are eligible to participate in the program. Of the approximately 500+ police agencies in New York State only approximately 165 are currently accredited. The Village of Liberty Police Department is now the first police department in Sullivan County’s history of achieving this professional milestone.  

In order to achieve accreditation agencies must meet a set of standards in three categories: Administration, Training and Operations. Accreditation provides formal recognition that an agency meets or exceeds expectations of quality; demonstrates that the agency performs in a professional manner, has formalized policies in place to govern its operational practices and procedures, and that its employees contribute to the agency’s mission and know what is expected of them.

Chief of Police Steven D’Agata stated, “I am incredibly proud of all of the hard work of the men and woman of the Village of Liberty Police Department that went into achieving this high standard.”