At right, Canton Police Sgt. James Santimaw, the department’s accreditation program manager, accepts the certificate from a representative of the state Division of Criminal Justice Services at the Alfred E. Smith Building in Albany on Dec. 18.

CANTON -- The Canton Police Department was recently reaccredited by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services.

Sgt. James Santimaw was the accreditation program manager.

The Canton Police Department has been continuously certified since 1993, the department said.

Under the accreditation program, the department must conform to guidelines set forth by the NYSDCJS program, specifically in policy and procedure and training.

The department must be reaccredited every five years to keep its status.

In order to become accredited, law enforcement agencies must develop and implement policies and procedures to meet 133 established standards, 69 that are related to agency administration, 52 to operations and 12 to training. Agencies must maintain a file on each. A certificate of accreditation is awarded to agencies that have met or exceeded those standards.

“I am very proud of Sgt. Santimaw and our department in achieving this status,” said Chief Lori McDougal. “It requires a lot of hard work and dedication by the department and it certainly isn’t an easy undertaking.”