Video: One Local Police Department Is Seeking To Be The Best Of The Best

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – They wear the uniform with pride, that’s because officers with Mississippi State’s Police Department are constantly working to make their division the best.

Right now, accreditation officers are examining every aspect of the department to see how things run.

The MSU Police force was one of the first in the state to receive accreditation.

In order to make the grade, departments must meet certain standards.

Now 12 years later, the department continues to review their own polices and procedures as they work toward re-accreditation.

The MSU Police Department sets a high bar with accreditation.

“A continuous process towards excellence is what the process is all about. I mean, it’s never ending. You’re always striving to be the best and looking for ways to improve the methods in which you provide service to the communities in which we serve,” says Captain Kenny Rogers.

It’s a voluntary process that takes place every three years.

“They’ll look at our policies and procedures. They’ll look at administration. They’ll look at our patrol. They’ll look at communications. They’ll look at our records system and how we go about doing those things.”

The MSU officers are all certified state police officers, and patrol a city within a city.

“We operate just as any major city or county does. We enforce all of the traffic laws and we enforce all of the criminal laws. We have a patrol division. We have an investigative division and we have a support division, which conducts our training, our accreditation, and other functions throughout the university,” says Assistant Police Chief Kenneth Spencer.

The steps officers go through helps them to stay on top of law enforcement tactics.

“We have currently 34 certified police officers, so we have a big population that we’re trying to enforce, with a small number of officers, so we try to recruit and maintain some of the most highly qualified and certified officers within the state.”

Seeking the best of the best, is why several of the officers have their bachelor and master degrees, in addition to law enforcement training.

“A couple of our officers have attended the FBI National Academy. We have, several of our officers are state certified instructors, firearms, defensive tactics, tasers, and so we seek to find the most excellent officers that are out there.”