Lacey police gets kudos for accreditation

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The Olympian • Published July 12, 2008

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Thumbs up: Lacey police

A big thumbs up to the Lacey Police Department, which has successfully completed the accreditation process of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs. Lacey was accredited in 1995 and again in 2000 under former chief John Mansfield. Now, under the direction of Chief Dusty Pierpoint, Lacey has become one of just five departments statewide to be reaccredited under a new association program. Lt. Chris Ward, Lacey’s accreditation manager, said that the process begins with a self analysis followed by a thorough review by other professionals to ensure that Lacey is following the best practices in the law enforcement profession. Accreditation is a way of helping law enforcement agencies evaluate and improve their overall performance. Washington was the first state to have a totally operational independent accreditation process in place. Members of the Lacey Police Department can take great pride in state accreditation. The rigorous and lengthy review shows that law enforcement officers in Lacey are true professionals who follow the best practices the profession offers.

Thumbs down: Construction project

The city of Edgewood, just east of Tacoma, is embarrassed by an error that resulted in the construction of the city hall in the wrong location. A surveying error has resulted in the building’s baseline being off by 13 feet, 4 inches. Babbit Neuman Construction is in charge of the project and responsible for any additional costs, according to Public Works Director Dave Lorenzen. The low-bid award of most public works contracts puts government agencies in the precarious position of demonstrating low-bid contractors are nonresponsive and incapable of completing the project in a quality fashion — even if they’ve previously misread their survey documents. There’s a lesson in this for members of the Olympia City Council who are in the process of selecting a contractor to build a new city hall for the capital city. Be cautious and make sure you have a good bond to cover errors and omissions.