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The Morristown Police Department has once again earned accreditation through Tennessee Law Enforcement Accreditation Program, a process that involved 164 standards, organized into 374 compliance items, and a review of more than 15,000 documents.

Clay Robinette, a representative of the Tennessee Law Enforcement Accreditation Program, was on hand to present the award at Tuesday’s Morristown City Council meeting.

“For those who don’t know what the accreditation program entails or what it is, it’s an adherence to a set of professional standards that are set by an independent body that recognizes what a professional law enforcement agency should be performing to achieve those goals,” he said. “On average, it takes three years to become accredited. It’s no easy task for an agency to be awarded and maintain accreditation. No agency can do it alone. Community buy-in is critical.

That your community buys into the accreditation process and your agency. Your agency needs community support as much as the community needs the agency’s support. Without support and commitment from the community and other levels of government and emergency services, accreditation would be impossible.”

Chief Roger Overholt was on hand to receive the award and reemphasized the task as a team effort.

“I’d like to say on behalf of the Morristown Police Department, to reach this level of certification, it takes dedication to professionalism on behalf of every man and woman on our team. This is not a task by a single person or by a small group of individuals.

Each person that works with our agency had something to do with us being able to achieve this recognition. And a special thanks to Deputy Chief Michelle Jones, and Captain Clyde Short, who are here with us today, because daily they oversee this process in addition to the other tasks that they have to do. So thank you all.”

Morristown Mayor Gary Chesney congratulated the department on a job well done and noted he was glad to brag about the MPD to other Mayors.

“We’re proud of the professionalism and probably one of the most difficult tasks that are part of city government is enforcing law,” he said.

In other action on Tuesday, the Council approved a rezoning for a proposed apartment complex near Cherokee Lake at the property on the northeast corner of Cherokee Park Road and Buffalo Trail.

They also tabled a motion to annex a small property on Central Church Road to study the issue after concerns were brought up about safety, school bus stops and road issues were raised in the work session prior to the meeting and in the meeting itself.

Finally, the Council approved the surplus of six vehicles that have been removed from service, including a 1987 Spartan fire apparatus.