Outdoors Brief
FWC law enforcement achieves highest accreditation level
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Division of Law Enforcement was awarded the Excelsior Status, the most prestigious achievement in Florida accreditation, by the Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation at their February 2024 conference.
Excelsior Recognition is reserved for criminal justice agencies that have received accreditation five consecutive times over 15 years.
The FWC Division of Law Enforcement has been an accredited law enforcement agency since receiving its initial certification in February 2009 and is the largest conservation law enforcement agency in the nation to achieve accredited status. To achieve this status, the FWC must prove compliance, uniformity and consistency with CFA accreditation standards, which reflect best practices regarding life, health and safety issues, and essential law enforcement requirements. Accreditation helps ensure accountability and transparency that enhances confidence and trust in law enforcement among the communities they serve.
Accreditation is a voluntary independent review process that demonstrates the agency’s commitment to complying with CFA’s 240 accreditation standards. The Division of Law Enforcement received its most recent re-accreditation status after findings revealed no instances of noncompliance or issues requiring corrective action.
Reaccreditation status is valid for three years.
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.