Ocean City Police Department wins "truly special" recognition

Ocean City’s police department remains in elite company among law enforcement agencies in New Jersey by winning accreditation for the seventh time.

Harry Delgado, accreditation program director with the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police, noted that Ocean City is among only four police departments in the entire state that have achieved seven accreditations. He called it “truly special.”

“Basically, they fall into an elite group of less than 1.25 percent. So it’s really significant what they have accomplished,” Delgado explained of Ocean City’s place among the top accredited police departments in New Jersey.

Delgado presented a plaque to Ocean City Police Chief William Campbell during Thursday night’s City Council meeting to formally recognize the accreditation award for this year.

Campbell told the Council members that he was pleasantly surprised to learn that Ocean City is now among the top 1.25 percent of police departments around the state for accreditation. He said it puts Ocean City in “rarified air.”

Accreditation is a highly coveted recognition of professional excellence. It serves as a model for other law enforcement agencies throughout the state, Delgado said.

Ocean City’s police department first won accreditation in 2006 and has been through six re-accreditation cycles since then.

After accepting the plaque from Delgado, Campbell praised the men and women of the police department for their hard work, dedication and professionalism that has helped Ocean City to achieve accreditation again.

“If it wasn’t for the men and women that you see out driving around – whether it’s my traffic unit, my patrol officers, my community policing officers – they’re the boots on the ground that get it done. So for you up here thanking me or praising me, it’s really the men and women that work under me that deserve all the credit, because they make our department look good,” Campbell said.

He also paid tribute to his predecessors, former Chiefs Robert Blevin, Chad Callahan and Jay Prettyman, for setting the high standards that have allowed Ocean City to win accreditation seven times since 2006.

“If it wasn’t for Chief Blevin, followed by Chief Callahan and then Chief Prettyman, who were all equally dedicated each and every cycle to the accreditation process, I certainly wouldn’t be standing here taking credit for (being among) a very small percentage of New Jersey law enforcement agencies that have gone through an accreditation cycle for as long as we have,” Campbell said.

While congratulating Campbell, Mayor Jay Gillian called the Ocean City Police Department “one of the best departments around.”

“Just know that we’ll strive to be the best version of ourselves each and every day we go to work,” Campbell assured the mayor and Council.

For re-accreditation, a team of assessors from the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police examined all aspects of the OCPD’s policies and procedures, management, operations and support services.

As part of the accreditation process, members of the public were invited to make comments about the police department.

    Mayor Jay Gillian, seated next to City Solicitor Dorothy McCrosson, calls the Ocean City Police Department “one of the best departments around.”
  

The New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police, through its New Jersey Law Enforcement Accreditation Commission, is the accreditation agency in New Jersey. Accreditation is valid for a three-year period, during which time the law enforcement agency must submit annual reports attesting to its continued compliance with the accreditation standards.

Campbell noted that this year’s accreditation process revealed no flaws in the police department.

“I’m proud to say there were no flaws. Everything we did, what we’ve been doing, was 100 percent. The mayor likes to talk about policies and procedures. Here’s the proof in the pudding, mayor – policies and procedures to a top-notch level,” Campbell said while addressing Gillian.

Also during the ceremony at the Council meeting, Gillian and Campbell pointed to the police department’s community outreach program with Ocean City’s Spanish-speaking residents as one way the department stands out.

In recent years, the department and one of its bilingual officers have been meeting regularly with members of the Spanish-speaking community to strengthen their ties.

Campbell emphasized that during the most recent meeting, the police department assured the city’s Latino and Hispanic residents that they have nothing to fear from the department.

“With everything that’s going on, on a national level, we felt certainly that this meeting was imperative to reassure the (Spanish-speaking) population in Ocean City that certainly they have a safe place here – they have a safe haven, to be comfortable to live their lives, without fear of the Ocean City Police Department coming and trying to place them in custody and further deportation proceedings,” Campbell said.

He added that the meetings have been very well-received by the Latino and Hispanic community and he looks forward to “continued progress in that regard.”

“Our commitment is to anybody and everybody, whether you live here, whether you come to visit here, to provide a safe and sterile environment for everybody. We strive to do that to the best of our ability,” he said.

At the national level, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency has been conducting high-profile raids to arrest and deport undocumented immigrants – drawing criticism in some circles for its tactics.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, has defended the raids, saying they are intended to round up dangerous criminals who are in the country illegally.

    Harry Delgado, accreditation program director with the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police, tells City Council that the Ocean City Police Department ranks among the top departments in the entire state.