Police Department

Patrol Bureau

The Patrol Bureau is the department's largest bureau encompassing over 40% of the organization's budget and more than 50% of its personnel. The Patrol Bureau includes one specialized Field Support Division and three geographical divisions: North, East and West. Officer deployment occurs annually. Supporting the "beat integrity" concept to develop trust and ownership, officers are assigned to a beat for a minimum of one year. 

Patrol Officers

All Long Beach police officers are trained in the community policing philosophy. Additionally, each geographical division has proactive teams consisting of sworn employees and civilian support staff who promote personal safety and crime prevention. Along with beat officers, the teams represent the department at many community events, business meetings, and nonprofit group functions.

Bicycle officers are assigned to each geographical patrol division. These highly visible officers respond to quality of life issues directly affecting the community they serve. Bicycle officers, in partnership with patrol officers, community policing teams and other city departments, help to resolve problems related to transients, graffiti, drug sales, business issues and more.

Patrol officers in each division attend "Meet Your Police" meetings held in neighborhood residences to provide safety training, listen to community concerns and give feedback on issues citizens raise.

Community Oriented Public Safety Programs

Patrol Beat Integrity

One of the goals of community policing is to ensure that individual officers get to know the specific police service needs of area residents and businesses. For this reason, the department assigns officers to their divisions and beats for a minimum of one year. Nearly 70% of the officers elect to stay longer. Beat integrity includes not only officers in the traditional patrol cars, but also officers who patrol business and residential areas on bicycle and foot.

Police Service Dogs (K-9) Program

The department has a large team of service dogs which not only patrols the city, but also serves as "goodwill ambassadors" by appearing at community events.

Community Policing

Community policing is a philosophy and management style that promotes partnerships within the community and promotes community involvement. Elements of community policing include focusing attention on the causes of problems rather than only the response to incidents and involving a commitment and team effort by all departments of the city.

The department's community policing efforts are multifaceted. For example, members of the department attend neighborhood meetings to learn of the concerns of area residents and business owners. Beat officers conduct "walk and talks" on a regular basis by periodically stopping their patrols to get out within the community and discuss issues of importance to the public.

Community Watch  

Community Watch Information Page