Technical Services Division
This division is responsible for technology and computer related services for the department. Along with maintaining the infrastructure of the police building, the mobile data terminals in each patrol car, and for keeping the communications systems operating at peak performance. The division is also responsible for research, development, and implementation of new law enforcement technologies. This division is lead by the Technical Services Manager, a newly created position, equivalent to a civilian Lieutenant.
Records
The Records Team processes all police reports, citations, subpoenas, permits and statistical reporting. They keep track of crime data and run reports to help the Department be more effective, and they staff the front desk and non-emergency telephone lines during business hours.
The Property and Evidence Unit makes sure that any evidence collected in a case is handled properly and if appropriate, returned according to the law. This unit also handles items held in lost and found or held in safekeeping.
Click here to learn more about getting or filing a police report.
Mental Health - HOST
The Homeless Outreach Support Team (HOST) responds to all homeless-related calls for service. Learn more about the program here.
Dispatch - Communications Center
The Petaluma Communications Center (aka, "Dispatch") handles emergency calls for police, fire, and ambulance responses. Dispatchers also handle after-hours business calls for the Police Department and emergency calls for other City departments. Dispatchers are highly-trained, not only in using the computer-aided dispatch system, but also in how to calmly and competently handle emergency calls and crisis situations.
Community Engagement & Social Media
This team handles all community alerts and general outreach. They are also responsible for planning events to connect the Police Department with the community.
Recruitment
Recruiting qualified officers takes advanced planning and strategic thinking. To find the best people for our team, we reach out to various groups through many channels. We speak to police academies located in Napa and Sonoma counties. We also recruit at local town hall events and at high schools. We've also developed several qualified officers through our intern and police explorer program.
Volunteers
Volunteers support the police by handling daily duties, educating the community, assisting with traffic control at accidents and special events, and much more. The volunteer program includes high school and college students, working professionals, retirees and others from the community. We even have volunteer chaplains who providing crisis counseling. Our program typically has about 60 active volunteers. In the 2018-19 fiscal year, 5,480 hours of service were donated. Read about the Volunteer Program here. Or contact Jennifer Parsons-Pritchard by email or phone (707-778-4458).
Our team and our community get the support they need.
by Lieutenant Ron Klein
