Personnel Division

The Personnel Division is responsible for all Department Personnel paperwork, payroll, accreditation, grants management, social media platforms and the Department's Policy and Procedures.

The following units are assigned to the Personnel Division:

Accreditation

Accreditation is a progressive and contemporary way of helping police agencies evaluate and improve their overall performance. It provides formal recognition that an organization meets or exceeds general expectations of quality in the field. Accreditation acknowledges the implementation of policies that are conceptually sound and operationally effective.

The New York State program became operational in 1989 and encompasses four principle goals:

To increase the effectiveness and efficiency of law enforcement agencies utilizing existing personnel, equipment and facilities to the extent possible;
To promote increased cooperation and coordination among law enforcement agencies and other agencies of the criminal justice services;
To ensure the appropriate training of law enforcement personnel; and
To promote public confidence in law enforcement agencies.

The Accreditation Program is comprised of a set of standards developed to further enhance the capabilities of an agency, and is divided into three categories. Standards in the Administrative section have provisions for such topics as agency organization, fiscal management, personnel practices, and records management. Training standards encompass basic and in-service instruction, as well as training for supervisors and specialized or technical assignments. Operations standards deal with such critical and litigious topics as high-speed pursuits, roadblocks, patrol, and unusual occurrences.

The Mount Vernon Police Department is proud to have maintained its NYS DCJS Accreditation since 1995.

Grants

The Office of Personnel and Accreditation is tasked with maintaining the Department's grants and seeking out new grant opportunities in order to better fund the Police Department. The Department's Grants Officer is tasked with maintaining numerous grants, such as:

Gun Involved Violence Elimination Grant
The Department of Justice's Edward Bryne 'JAG' Grant
The New York State Discovery Reform Grant
The FEMA CARES Act Grant
The NYS Governor's Traffic Safety Committee Grant
The Patrick Leahy Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant

Payroll

The Office is responsible for the on-boarding, off-boarding and payroll for approximately 260 Department employees and maintains not only their payroll files but also their personnel files and medical files.

Policy and Procedure

The Office is responsible to updating the Department's Policies and Procedures to not only ensure conformance with changes in federal and state laws, but to ensure that the Policies and Procedures are in compliance with the best practices as law enforcement evolves. Each of the Department's policies are reviewed and revised yearly.

Some of the policy changes that have occurred since January 2020 include:

Use of Force	Discipline and Duty Status
Firearms	Civilian Complaints
Fraternization and Nepotism	Written Orders
Internal Affairs Investigations	Employee Injuries
Marijuana/Cannabis Law Updates	Detective Division Operations
BolaWrap - Less Lethal Device	Prisoner / Cell Block Operations
Office of the Chief	Pre-Employment Application Investigations
Employee Evaluations	NYS Attorney General Notifications
Strip Searches	Orders of Protection against Officers
Patrol Rifles	Take Home Vehicle Policy Updates