Patrol Division

The patrol division is the lifeblood of a police department. The initial investigation of a call by a trained police officer most times turns up the most important information and evidence that law enforcement needs to solve a case. At present we have 37 police officers that are supervised over the three shifts by 8 patrol lieutenants.

The patrol division has a patrol captain assigned to it for administrative purposes. Overall responsibility for the patrol division is under the direction of Assistant Chief of Police Edward Baker.

Patrol officers are responsible for the initial handling of any call that comes into our dispatch unit. These calls can be as simple as a disabled automobile or as serious as a felony level crime in progress. Our officers generally ride one officer per car and at times multiple cars need to be assigned to a specific call.

The responding officer is responsible for working on a case as far as he can within his function as a police officer. Calls that necessitate an immediate arrest are handled and completed by the patrol officer including all booking of the suspect. Calls that need more investigative work done are referred by the officer to one of our specialty units such as the Detective Bureau, Family Offense Bureau or Accident Investigation Unit.