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The Patrol Division |
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Introduction
The Bergen County Police Department Patrol Division is the backbone of the police department. This, the largest and most active unit in the department, provides around the clock service across 239 square miles, to all the residents of Bergen County. The Bergen County Police Department was formed and has served the County since 1917. Times have changed dramatically since the inception of the department and the Patrol Division has been at the forefront of these changes, constantly adapting to new doctrine, technology, and policing methods. The Patrol Division provides a quick response to requests for law enforcement service to the 68 municipal police departments in the County, as well as the New Jersey State Police, numerous federal agencies, and with the shrinking world around us, international agencies including the United Nations. The Bergen County Police Patrol Division provides a high level of service disproportionate to its size. In 1996 the Patrol Division answered 16,352 calls. These calls ranged from simple traffic accidents up to major catastrophes such as the explosion and fire at Knapp Chemical in Lodi, and every conceivable call in between these two extremes.
The Patrol Division Today
The Bergen County Police Patrol Division is a well trained, and experienced patrol force. The Division operates out of the headquarters building at 66 Zabriskie Street in Hackensack. All members of the Patrol Division must complete an extensive training regimen after being selected for the job of police officer. This training includes an extensive Basic Police Academy training course of 21 weeks, followed by coaching in the Field Training Officer (FTO) program, and then an extended period of evaluation throughout the remainder of the probationary period. In this first year the young officer will be exposed to an extremely wide variety of situations, and the past history of the Department has shown that these situations may be life threatening to the public or the patrol officer. Technology plays an important role in the Patrol Division and this technology, such as Mobile Data Terminals, laptop computers, and high performance radios, is intended for one purpose, that is to make Bergen County a safer place to live. One good example of the modern use of this technology is in police pursuits. The Bergen County Police had 10% of all police pursuits in Bergen County in 1996, all of these pursuits successfully resolved, terminated without injury or property damage, or resulted in arrest.
The Patrol Division serves as a manpower pool to support the many specialized units and functions within the department Personnel from the Patrol Division serve on the following units in addition to their regular duties: The SWAT Team, Bomb Squad, SCUBA Team, Equestrian Unit, Canine Unit, Fatal Accident Unit, Arson Squad, Rapid Deployment Force, Medical Examiner's Squad, and the Youth Services Unit. This diversity allows the individual officer to provide a variety of expensive services at no additional cost to the taxpayer. Additionally these skills strengthen the ability of the Patrol Division to manage highly complex and dangerous assignments on a daily basis.
The Future
The Patrol Division is committed to providing a uniformly high level of service to the citizens of this County. In order to meet the future demands for this service, the supervisors in the unit are constantly reviewing the latest doctrine and technology in law enforcement. Trends in crime, traffic problems, and changes in the law are studied prior to the initiation of new services. The duties of the Patrol Division are constantly evaluated, with the doctrine of providing the highest quality of service within reasonable budget constraints. Members of the Patrol Division are prepared to deliver this same service to the community into the next century, with dedication, and concern for the population of Bergen County. The key to policing, in the future, will be to meet the challenge of providing the best police service, while strengthening the sense of community, and doing all this for the least amount of tax dollars possible. The Bergen County Police Patrol Division will be the leader, when law enforcement moves into the year 2000. The dedication and experience of this unit will guide the duties of the County Police for the next 100 years.
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PO Charles R. Lekowski,
Systems Administrator and Webmaster
Copyright © 1998-2003 Bergen County Police Department. All rights
reserved.
Revised:
February 20, 2003