Police Operations | Team Concept | Patrol Officer | Neighborhood Resource Officer | Tactical Team | S.W.A.T. | Canine Unit | Crime Scene Investigator | Field Training Officer | Crime Prevention | Selective Traffic Enforcement Unit | Investigations Bureau
Police Operations: Under the direction of the Field Operations Deputy Chief, the Police Services Bureau serves to protect the lives and property of residents and visitors alike, 24-hours a day, 365 days a year with a set minimum number of officers at all times. Two teams, under the direction of two Patrol Captains (Watch Commanders) and 12 Public Safety Lieutenants who serve as shift supervisors, work a modified 4/11 plan to provide daily coverage for all calls for service. The city is divided into 6 beats, geographical areas based on equal division of previous demand for calls for service. Beats are modified as demands change to ensure timely response by the patrol beat officer.
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Team Concept: Another device for making greater use of human resources is the application of the team concept to operations. The entire department is divided into teams, each of which is responsible for department tasks either during a given time period or in a certain geographical or functional area. Teams work and train together over a substantial period of time in order to develop the coordination required for effective performance. Also, through the team concept, personnel gain new perspectives of goals and problems.
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Patrol Officer: Public Safety Officers assigned to Patrol must perform a variety of duties in addition to crime prevention, responding to emergencies, and providing assistance upon public request. They are therefore trained and encouraged to fully investigate all cases to which they are assigned, and with the exception of some major criminal cases, will conduct preliminary investigations and interviews, collect evidence and follow-up investigative leads as far as possible prior to the case being reassigned to detectives in the Investigations Unit. Patrol Officers also perform general traffic enforcement duties as part of their daily activities which may include identification and surveillance of areas requiring selective traffic enforcement and making recommendations to the City Traffic Engineering Department as to traffic conditions.
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Neighborhood Resource Officer: Four Public Safety Officers are assigned as Neighborhood Resource Officers whose primary responsibility is to address the special problems and needs within designated areas of the City. In order to fulfill their responsibilities, they seek to establish a bridge of trust and understanding with the residents and business owners within their designated areas. They adjust their schedules to allow for discussions with civic groups, participation in youth oriented activities and attendance at neighborhood meetings. A sub-program of this Unit is the Juvenile Diversion Program which is designed to prevent non-criminal juvenile offenders from entering the criminal justice system. This program is carried out at both the local and county wide levels so as to offer alternatives to the problems faced by juveniles.
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Canine Unit: Three canines are used in general and specialized patrol to enhance crime prevention, crime suppression, criminal investigation, and officer/citizen protection activities. Canine officers also perform school and public demonstrations.
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Field Training Officer: The field training officer has been carefully selected to do the on-the-job training. The broad background of knowledge needed by the effective officer cannot be gained entirely at the police academy. The primary objective of the program is to produce a Public Safety Officer who can work in a solo capacity safely and effectively. For this reason, the field training and evaluation program is mandatory prior to regular patrol assignment. The program is considered an integral part of the total recruit selection process. It is a comprehensive curriculum and standardized evaluation system that will enable the recruit to demonstrate his/her proficiency in patrol operations.
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Crime Scene Investigator: Provides all patrol shifts with readily available uniformed personnel who have received specialized training in the identification, collection and preservation of physical evidence. The Crime Scene Investigator responds to designated crime scenes to identify evidence and secure the scene. The investigator is responsible for locating and collecting physical evidence and performs specialized processing of evidence not normally provided by the Santa Clara County Crime Lab.
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Mobile Field Force (MFF): The Mobile Field Force mission is to systematically and safely manage or control mass assemblies and demonstrations. Experience has shown that the best way to accomplish the safe management of crowds is by employing a specially trained, equipped, and highly disciplined unit of Public Safety Officers acting as a well coordinated team.
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S.W.A.T.: Special Weapons and Tactics - The role of the S.W.A.T. team is to neutralize hazardous situations through the development of sound teamwork, the use of time as an ally and, most importantly, through the ability of the officers to communicate with people by ways other than those involving traditional police tactics. Each officer receives many hours of specialized training in rescue techniques and in the use of methods for dealing with potentially hazardous situations. Hostage Negotiators work closely with the S.W.A.T. Team in many incidents.
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Crime Prevention: The goals of this program are to provide a proactive means to prevent crime and present structured training to the community. The Crime Prevention Unit maintains burglary statistics, alarm response statistics and reviews building plans to insure high security standards. One of the primary services of this unit is to educate city residents and commercial and industrial property owners on how to better secure their properties against the crimes of burglary and theft. The part-time Crime Prevention Assistants (CPA's) implement the Operation ID and Home Security Inspection program in the city's neighborhoods. Another popular program is the Neighborhood Watch program. This involves organizing home owners in each neighborhood to work together to assist one another in protecting their property and reporting suspicious circumstances.
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Traffic Enforcement Unit: In addition to the general traffic enforcement provided by patrol officers, three officers and one Lieutenant are assigned as Traffic Safety Officers. The goal of this program is to reduce all types of vehicle related accidents. Those officers assigned to the unit spend the majority of their time operating radar equipment and enforcing traffic laws. Other tasks the Traffic Officer performs are to identify and investigate traffic violation complaints, prepare special reports of enforcement activities, research and prepare recommendations for selective traffic enforcement, provide in-service training on radar use and selective enforcement tactics.
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Investigations: The Investigations Unit is responsible for the investigation of major crimes and follow-up on most felony crimes. They may be called upon to report directly to the Director of Public Safety on internal affairs inquiries. Three supervising Lieutenants and 11 Investigation officers (Detectives) are assigned to specific unitssuch as; Street Crimes, Family Violent Crimes/Assault, and Narcotics/Youth Violence.
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For more information about the Police Bureau, go to the Police Bureau's homepage.
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