Broward Police Academy

FIRST ACCREDITED, FIRST RE-ACCREDITED & FIRST AFIS UNIT INTERNATIONALLY ACCREDITED

Updated: 11/14/2011 02:52:00 PM
PIO Number: 11-11-11
In 2005, the Broward Sheriff’s Office crime lab became the first sheriff’s law enforcement laboratory in the nation to be awarded international accreditation in the field of forensic testing by the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors, Laboratory Accreditation Board (ASCLD/LAB) and now it’s the first to be re-accredited. We’re also very proud to announce the BSO Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) Unit is the first of such units to receive the prestigious international accreditation.

All of these accomplishments will be celebrated at a re-accreditation ceremony to be held:

10 a.m. November 15

BSO Public Safety Building
2601 W. Broward Blvd., Ft. Lauderdale

ASCLD/LAB is a non-profit professional organization dedicated to promoting and maintaining the highest standards of practice in the field of forensic science. There are over 350 crime labs currently accredited by ASCLD/LAB, but only 85 of those meet the organization’s exacting International Program standards.

The Broward Sheriff’s Office crime lab has been ASCLD/LAB-accredited since February 2000 and earned the more rigorous international accreditation after demonstrating superior management and operations in areas such as firearms, tool marks, latent prints, trace evidence, DNA, and audiovisual analysis, among others. BSO’s crime laboratory works in conjunction with the agency’s Crime Scene Unit and all law enforcement agencies in Broward County to analyze and process evidence collected at crime scenes.

With over 5,000 employees, BSO is America’s largest nationally-accredited sheriff’s department. The agency provides full-time law enforcement services in 14 Broward cities and towns and in all of Broward’s unincorporated areas. BSO also protects the Broward County Courthouse, the Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, countywide mass transit, areas of the Everglades and the county’s waterways, including Port Everglades.

Broward Sheriff’s Office will hold a dual event Saturday morning at the Oakland Park Municipal Building. The event will include a prescription drug “take back” and a Shred-A-Thon.

9 a.m. – noon, Saturday, Nov. 12, 2011
Oakland Park Municipal Building

5399 North Dixie Hwy., Oakland Park

The prescription drug take back program, operating under the name Operation Medicine Cabinet, allows participants to turn in unused, unwanted or expired prescription medication anonymously and receive a $5 gift card while supplies last. The event is sponsored by BSO and the United Way Commission on Substance Abuse.
The Shred-A-Thon provides residents with a safe way to dispose of their personal documents, check stubs, credit card offers, receipts and any other paperwork that contains sensitive information. The service is free of charge. There’s a limit of five boxes per person.

Following very successful years of Shred-A-Thons from 2008 – 2010, during which tens of thousands of pounds of documents were shredded, BSO and the Office of the Florida Attorney General are committed to continue helping the community fight identity theft by inviting them to shred their old documents.

The Shred-A-Thon events began in Broward County in May 2008, as a joint initiative by Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti and the Florida Attorney General’s Office, with the assistance of UNISHRED and The National Association of TRIADS.

For more information on the Shred-A-Thon, please call (954) 321-4100. For more information about the prescription drug “take back” event or prescription drug prevention presentations, contact Jonathon Fishman at (954) 557-1124.

This report by Dani Moschella/PIO

BSO deputies responded to a burglary in progress in the 7700 block of NW 63rd Way at approximately 9:30 a.m this morning. A description of the suspects and their vehicle was quickly broadcast to responding units. The vehicle was observed exiting the Mill Run subdivision. The vehicle was stopped on SR 7 and three suspects were apprehended without incident. The suspects were charged with residential burglary. If you see suspicious activity in your neighborhood call 911 immediately.