Quincy council delays accreditation decision

QUINCY - Quincy delayed this week a second proposal for police department accreditation until its mid-October retreat.

The city council made the decision after the proposal to hire an accreditation manager didn't receive a motion to approve it. Department officials proposed hiring the manager for $24,000 a year, and revisiting the issue in 18 months.

The proposal to pursue accreditation from the Washington Association of Sheriff's and Police Chiefs (WASPC) is the second put forward by the police department. Police Chief Richard Ackerman previously proposed hiring a part-time employee for $12 an hour for 15 hours a week to pursue accreditation. The council rejected the proposal. They later requested more information about the process and why it was necessary.

A WASPC official, along with the Bellevue police chief and a representative from a national accreditation agency presented information to the council. They each said the process sets standards, which can help with claims and lawsuits.

WASPC uses 135 standards to judge the agency. The standards range from policies on how officers do their job, how records are managed, natural and man-made disaster plans, fiscal management and personnel policies, according to WASPC.

Quincy Police Capt. Gene Fretheim read the latest proposal to the council, saying the process to become accredited is extremely labor intensive and requires a full-time employee to complete everything.

"Most police departments statewide routinely hire a civilian employee as a full-time accreditation manager," he said.

"Much larger police departments will sometimes select and pull one of their civilians or commissioned officers from their assigned duties to be the accreditation manager."

The department can't afford to pull any civilian, officer, sergeant or the captain from their current duties to manage the accreditation process, Fretheim said.

"To do so, would be a very poor management decision and negatively impact the Quincy Police Department's level of service to the city," he said.

A survey of other Washington police departments showed the average salary of an accreditation manager ranges from $30,000 to $56,000 a year, depending on the size of the agency, Fretheim said.

He didn't say what agencies were surveyed.

"The $24,000-per-year price for an accreditation manager is very small when compared to the amount of potential liability and legal costs faced by every city as a result of their police department that operates 24 hours a day and seven days a week," he said.

Councilmember Scott Lybbert suggested discussing the proposal at the council's Oct. 13 retreat, saying it would allow the council to talk about it and bring about a positive conclusion.