YOUNGSTOWN — The Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office was one of the state’s first 10 law enforcement agencies to complete the new Ohio Collaborative Law Enforcement Accreditation Program.

Gov. Mike DeWine created the program last year to recognize law enforcement agencies that voluntarily meet or exceed nearly three dozen state standards that address core responsibilities such as professional conduct, bias-free policing, crisis intervention and community engagement, according to a news release from the governor’s office.

In addition to the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office, the other agencies newly accredited are the Dayton Police Department, Dublin Police Department, Fairborn Police Department, Ohio State Highway Patrol, Sidney Police Department, Springfield Police Department, Stark County Sheriff’s Office, University of Toledo Police Department and Van Wert County Sheriff’s Office.

“We were honored to be selected to be one of the first agencies to take part,” Sheriff Jerry Greene said Thursday. “They are really just state standards and industry standards when it comes to policies, procedures, training.

“And many of these standards also reflect important accountability of your agency to make sure the people in Mahoning County and the citizens for all of these agencies that they police for are getting the best service they can, and it creates transparency.”

Leadership at the newly accredited agencies volunteered last year to become the first agencies to seek this accreditation, the news release states. The program is now open to all law enforcement agencies in the state.

The Ohio Collaborative Law Enforcement Accreditation Program is administered by the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board, which approved the agencies’ accreditation at its regular meeting Wednesday. The board also approved the addition of a new accreditation standard focused on the testing of ballistic evidence.

“This new standard will save lives by requiring accredited Ohio law enforcement agencies to submit all firearms and fired cartridge casings recovered or seized in connection with a criminal investigation to be analyzed and entered into the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network and National Tracing Center eTrace system,” said Andy Wilson, director of the Ohio Department of Public Safety. “This information sharing and cooperation will help agencies close cases and bring justice for victims and their families.”