Support Bureau
Community Affairs Unit
Along with media relations, our Community Affairs Office is responsible for crime prevention, the Kids and Cops Program and youth crime prevention programs, such as Drug Abuse and Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) and Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T).
Communications Section
They are responsible for all emergency and non-emergency calls for service. Along with dispatching for the Delray Beach Police and Fire Departments, our center provides dispatch service to the Towns of Gulf Stream and Highland Beach. In all, during the past year the Communications Section fielded 238,306 calls for service for a daily average of 653 calls per day. Of those, 47,615 were emergency 9-1-1 calls. From those combined telephone calls for assistance 98,737 calls were dispatched to officers for a police response.
Information Technology Unit
Our Information Technology Unit is responsible for all of the department’s computers, phone systems, and equipment that utilize software. Throughout this past year they have upgraded many programs that our staff has relied on to be efficient in their jobs. Their largest project will be the implementation of the agency’s new computer operating system. Once this is complete, the public safety suite will integrate our data with the data of other government/police agencies. The sharing of information is paramount for the safety and security of our community. The Information Technology Unit is also tasked with the set-up and maintenance of the 19 in-car video systems currently utilized in select marked police vehicles. These videos are instrumental in digitally capturing evidence of improper driving or other illegal activity occurring within the range of the camera’s eye.
Police Information Section
The Police Information Section is divided into two areas: Data Entry and the Front Desk/Records Section. The Data Entry Unit entered 50,766 police reports into our computer databases, consolidating 2,297 names. This information has been used department-wide in case investigations and compiling statistical data for grant reports. Our Alarm Unit registered 667 new residential/business alarms processing 6,467 alarm activations.
The Records/Front Desk Section fingerprinted 735 citizens last year and conducted approximately 600 civilian background checks for outside employment applications. They also handled 1,147 Teleserve reports (phone in calls requiring a police report but not necessarily a police response typically handled by a non-sworn employee at the Front Desk) and processed 9,214 parking citations, collecting $306,634.82. All of these tasks were accomplished while they assisted each and every citizen that came to the Police Department seeking help or information regarding a criminal or civil matter.
Training Unit
The training division is comprised of one Sergeant and two Officers. The Training Unit is the core component to any successful organization. Aside from providing instruction to each of the agency’s employees, the training team processes police officer applicants yearly. Additionally our Training Unit assists with accreditation, field training and maintaining a training file for each employee, ensuring that all Florida Department of Law Enforcement mandates are met.
