The UB Police Department (UPD) became the first SUNY police department to achieve state accreditation.
UB Chief of Police Gerald Schoenle has helped bring the police department to new heights - the unit has developed by establishing new and effective polices within the department pertaining to the best police practices, which helped them attain the honor.
"There are 130 standards set by NY State. Each law agency has to have policies and procedures that adhere to all the standards," Schoenle said. "Our goal was to update the department's existing policies to help meet such standards and apply for accreditation."
With esteemed colleagues by his side, Schoenle accepted the honor for the department during the accreditation ceremony that took place at the Center of Tomorrow last week.
According to Schoenle, the plan was to have uniform standards and practices in all areas of police operation, consistent with state and federal standards.
Getting accredited was no easy process, according to Schoenle. Preparation included recognizing and correcting deficiencies, creating more than 80 new policies and procedures and distributing them on the department's intranet so all officers may access the information easily. All of this was done within a span of several months, he said.
Schoenle proved to be just the man for the job. His extensive resume includes 20 years of experience with the Buffalo Police Department, five years as the director of training for Erie County Central Police Services and a year as an assistant chief in Arlington, Texas before coming to UB. Schoenle has made accreditation a primary goal for his department since taking his current position at the university in July 2006.
"Our department was in need of having its polices and procedures revised since it hasn't been done in many years," Schoenle said. "We redid all our policies and procedures and made sure that they were in compliance with the 130 set standards."
The department went under a demanding assessment by a state accreditation team
who do an onsite inspection of the entire department.
"We had to have ready files for all these standards," Schoenle said. "The files contained our new policies and procedures that showed that we are in compliance with the state's standards of accreditation."
The department passed the formal, physical inspection.
"For three days, inspectors came and took a real hard look at our department," Schoenle said. "The point is to make sure you are doing what you say you are doing."
UPD has progressed throughout the years to this current state. The force began with security, then public safety. Then in 1999, it became a full-service police department.
"It is a great honor for our department," Schoenle said. "We know we are a very good police department and this is proof of the professionalism of the university police. There is only 20 percent of the law enforcement agencies in the state that have achieved that high standard and we are proud to be part of them."
