Patrol Services
The members of patrol are the most visible and important members of the department. Sergeants oversee various patrol squads of officers and watch commanders with the rank of lieutenant supervises each side of the watch. The entire Patrol Section is supervised by a captain. These are the officers who respond day to day, every day of the year throughout the 40 square miles of city. These officers respond to nearly 60,000 calls for service annually. The department's canine unit is also part of uniformed patrol. The canine unit, led by a sergeant, includes four trained dogs that perform drug scent work and the tracking of offenders.
For operational purposes, the City is divided into 5 patrol zones, with officers assigned to each. Working 10 hour, overlapping shifts, the men and women assigned to patrol perform the most visible and recognizable functions of the department. You will find them in your neighborhoods, taking reports, looking for a lost child, comforting the victim of a crime, or questioning someone who doesn't appear to belong in the area. These members may respond to calls as ordinary as a noise complaint, assist with traffic control at the scene of an accident, writing a report of a theft, or to ones as dangerous as a violent crime in progress. Additionally, patrol units are responsible for investigating reported offenses such as burglaries, domestic violence complaints, burglar alarms, and suspicious persons.
