The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office is in the 1% of sheriff's offices nationwide to have received the Triple Crown Award for accreditation. This prestigious award recognizes agencies that have achieved accreditation from three separate accreditation agencies: Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA), the American Correctional Association (ACA), and the National Commission on Correctional Healthcare (NCCHC). Additionally, the agency is accredited by the ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB) for the forensic inspection activities performed by the AFIS Division (Latent Unit), Forensic Sciences Division, and the Forensic Imaging Unit, and by the Airborne Public Safety Association (APSA) for activities performed by the Flight Unit.

 The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office was first accredited by CALEA in 1988, ACA in 1984, NCCHC in 1987, and ANAB and APSA in 2019 and continues to maintain these accreditations.

The American Correctional Association was founded in 1870 as the National Prison Association, changing to the American Correctional Association in 1954 to reflect their “expanding philosophy of corrections and its increasingly important role within the community and society.” The ACA utilizes the principles of humanity, justice, protection, opportunity, knowledge, competence and accountability to develop sound corrections practices.

The ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB) is the largest multi-disciplinary accreditation body in North America providing accreditation services to both public and private sector organizations and is owned by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).  ANAB is now the longest established provider of ISO based accreditation standards for forensic agencies in the United States.  ANAB began providing forensic accreditation in 1982, and in 2016, ANAB merged its existing forensic operations with those of ASCLD/LAB. 

In February 2019, the AFIS Division (Latent Unit), Forensic Sciences Division, and Forensic Imaging Unit were awarded accreditation for their forensic inspection activities through ANAB under the ISO/IEC 17020 standard.  The forensic disciplines covered under the accreditation include crime scene investigations and friction ridge comparisons.

Certificate and Scope of Accreditation

Benefits to the Community

• The agency’s administrative and operational policies and procedures are in accordance with a body of nationally certified and recognized professional standards
• Assurance that every aspect of the agency’s personnel system is in accordance with professional standards
• International recognition of professional excellence
• Assures the community the agency is committed to providing the highest quality services possible and that the policies and procedures are not only effective and responsive, but are also fair and equitable
• Enhances community understanding, cooperation and support of the agency and its role in the community
• Liability litigation is deterred
• State-of-the-art, impartial guidelines for evaluation and change when necessary
• On-going evaluation of whether agency resources are being utilized in the best interest of its mission assignment
• Provides neutral guidelines for developing strong budget justifications, especially for personnel and their allocation across function and activities
• Promotes standardization of policies, increasing efficiency in handling calls for assistance, referrals and joint investigations with other agencies
• Promotes relationships with prosecutors, courts, correctional agencies and state and local government officials
• Adds to employee confidence and assures they are part of an agency which is nationally recognized as being a provider of truly professional services