Overview

The police department is a nationally-accredited, full-service agency employing 112 personnel; including 61 full-time police officers, 26 full-time civilians, and 25 part-time employees. The goal of every employee of the police department is to help create a safe community for every person who lives, works, or visits in Jacksonville Beach.

Police Administration

Chief of Police Bruce Thomason

Commander Patrick Dooley

Commander Gene P. Smith

Commander Steve Corbitt

Accreditation

The Jacksonville Beach Police Department passed its recent accreditation review with flying colors, being selected as one of just a handful of law enforcement agencies around the country to be accredited.

The successful review means the Police Department will retain its status as a nationally accredited law enforcement agency for another three years. The accreditation review process provides an independent evaluation of the agency and its policies, procedures, programs and facilities to ensure that the department is complying with nationally-recognized law enforcement performance standards. The Jacksonville Beach Police Department has been accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) since 1995.

The department has a full-time accreditation manager who is responsible for developing and maintaining accreditation standards and procedures, auditing compliance of the standards, drafting new written directives, and maintaining master and archive files.

The CALEA Process

A team of independent assessors conducted a five-day, on-site review of the department in April 2009 as part of the reaccreditation process. The assessment team recommended approval for reaccreditation.

Meeting in Hampton, Virginia on July 26th, 2009, CALEA renewed the Police Department's accreditation for another three years. The Jacksonville Beach Police Department was among approximately 85 national law enforcement agencies that went before CALEA for either first-time accreditation or reaccreditation.