Navajo County Sheriff's Office wins state accreditation, says department will keep annual proofing

The Navajo County Sheriff's Office has received accreditation through the Arizona Law Enforcement Accreditation Program (ALEAP), and officials said the agency also holds certification from the National Institute of Jail Operations.

Deputy Chief Bruce Tucker said the sheriff's office is "the only sheriff's office in the state of Arizona to be accredited. We are the first." He told hosts of the office's podcast that the ALEAP accreditation is administered by a commission tied to the Arizona Chiefs of Police Association and requires meeting a broad set of standards.

ALEAP's requirements include what Tucker described as "176 basic standards" and roughly "410 subsections" that agencies must document. Lieutenant Whipple and accreditation manager Judy Wallace described the scale of the effort: the office compiled proofs across a workforce of about 160 people, including 63 deputies, who operate across nearly 10,000 square miles of Navajo County.

"It was a big undertaking," Lieutenant Whipple said,…