The Utah State University Police Department — within USU’s Department of Public Safety — is now an officially accredited agency, as approved by the Utah Chiefs of Police Association.
Police Chief Earl Morris said accreditation requires a good department like USU’s to go a step above.
“It isn’t just that you have to draft and implement a tremendous amount of policies, but you have to train to the policies, you have to have inventory programs, you have to have auditing programs and financial accountability,” Chief Morris explained. “There’s just a myriad of things — over 100 on a long list of items — that have been promulgated by the Utah Chiefs of Police Association, in conjunction with the International Association of Chiefs of Police Association.”
Chief Morris said Capt. Kent Harris and Detective Erik Christensen were instrumental in the effort.
“So much of the credit goes to them; we had multiple other agencies working on policy development and training, things of that nature,” Chief Morris added. “It was a department-wide effort; even our Fire Marshall and emergency management programs, and security, all had to be wrapped into this process, because we are a department of public safety, not just a policing agency.
“And then it also included our eastern campus, Utah State University Eastern in Price.”
When the accreditation plaque was presented Sept. 8, USU became the second university in Utah with an accredited police department.
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