3 Photos
John Bilich
the New York State Office of Public Works deputy commissioner
presents Quogue Village Police Chief Robert Coughlan with a plaque certifying that the department is now an accredited agency.
Photos by Vera Chinese
After spending nearly two years making sure it meets all 130 of Albany’s administrative, training and operation standards, the Quogue Village Police Department officially became a New York State law enforcement accredited agency this past June.
Of the 550 law enforcement departments operating in New York State, only 130 are accredited agencies, according to John Bilich, the New York State Deputy Commissioner of Public Safety. Accreditation is valid for five years and certifies that a police department meets all of the state’s professional standards.
“[It means] you’ve adopted the highest levels of recognized police standards,” Mr. Bilich said during a brief ceremony honoring the Quogue Village Police Department on Friday. “It’s an arduous process.”
The Southampton Town, Southampton Village and Suffolk County police departments are all accredited agencies. The Westhampton Beach Police Department plans to achieve the same status in the future.
The ceremony honoring the Quogue Village Police Department was held at police headquarters on Jessup Avenue Friday morning. Quogue Mayor George Motz, Village Trustees Peter Sartorius, Kim Payne and Jeanette Obser, as well as Police Chief Robert Coughlan and Lieutenant Christopher Isola were among the dozen or so people in attendance.
During the ceremony, Mayor Motz thanked the department for the safety and security it provides village residents on a daily basis. “We know it’s a terrific department,” he said.
Chief Coughlan then thanked police officer Kellie Corrigan and Sergeant John Donovan, who spent the past year and nine months meticulously going over the department’s standards and procedures, and making sure that they were up to code.
After Chief Coughlan agreed that his department was ready for review, an application was made to the New York State Office of Public Safety. The document was then reviewed by a committee of law enforcement officials, all from departments at least 120 miles away from Quogue Village.
The Quogue Village Police Department was unanimously approved as an accredited agency by the committee earlier this summer.
“It definitely made us better,” Sgt. Donovan said during the ceremony. “I learned a lot.”
