Sheriff's Office no longer accredited by the state

The News Virginian, dailyprogress.com
BYLINE: Brian Carlton,

Augusta County, VA


News Virginian file photo

As of this week, the Augusta County Sheriff’s Office is no longer accredited by the state. In a statement to the media, Sheriff Randy Fisher said he voluntarily removed his office from the accreditation program, as the investigation continues into what happened to $4,000 that went missing from the evidence room.

“I have too much respect for the integrity of the program and what it means to agencies that are accredited to allow my agency to be a distraction to the commission,” Fisher wrote. “While I believe there has been no criminal violation committed, regarding the disappearance of money from the sheriff’s office evidence room, I have to wait until the completion of an ongoing investigation before making any judgments or decisions.”

It’s not a requirement for a law enforcement agency to be accredited by the state. But what that does do is show residents the agency follows all of the professional law enforcement guidelines set up by Virginia’s Law Enforcement Professional Standards Commission, which is made up of sheriffs and police chiefs throughout the commonwealth. To be accredited, an agency has to allow inspectors from the commission to observe their operation. It usually takes years to achieve accreditation, involving hundreds of hours of work.

As of July 20, the Augusta County Sheriff’s Office is no longer part of that process, although Fisher said the group would “continue to operate under the same policies and procedures set forth by the professional standards commission.”

The issue stems from money that disappeared from a drug case. The evidence room has a fingerprint lock and every movement is recorded by cameras, but somehow the money went missing. Fisher had said earlier he believed the money may have slipped out of the safe and into a trash pile. To get an impartial group to look into the case, he called in the Virginia State Police earlier this year, asking them to investigate the situation. There’s currently no timetable as to when that investigation will be complete.

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International Association for Property and Evidence
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