Divisions

The Huntington Beach Police Department consists of five divisions: Administrative Operations, Patrol, Investigations, Special Operations and Support Services. Each division is made up of bureaus which have distinct duties to respond to the needs of the citizens and the Department.

The Administrative Operations Division is responsible for the Professional Standards Bureau, Public Information Officer, Recruitment and Backgrounds, Community Relations, Fleet Services, and Facilities Management.

Within the Professional Standards Bureau is the Training Unit, which is responsible for new, ongoing, and in-service training for all sworn and non-sworn members of the Department. The Training Unit also oversees our Cadets and Explorers. The Public Information Officer handles all critical incident communications and social media interactions with the public.

Background Officers, working in close conjunction with our Personnel Unit, are responsible for testing and hiring of new employees. Our Community Relations Specialist works closely with many community members and Neighborhood Watch groups to collaborate in efforts to maintain and improve public safety.

The Patrol Division of the police department is the largest of the five divisions and has the greatest number of personnel assigned to it. Within the Patrol Division are Patrol Officers, Canine Unit, and the Bicycle Unit. The officers assigned to this division drive marked police cars and bicycles.

Patrol Division officers work with the citizens to solve problems in their neighborhoods. This is called Community Oriented Policing. The officers are assigned to specific geographical area known as a "beat" for an entire shift deployment. This allows officers to become familiar with the citizens in the area as well as identify crime trends.

The City of Huntington Beach is divided into eight beat areas. These areas are assigned a sufficient number of officers to provide coverage 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The Bicycle Unit is able to handle directed enforcement needs, resolve quality of life issues, and provide high visibility patrol in areas not accessible by car.

The Investigation Division includes the Investigations Bureau, the Special Investigations Bureau, Crime Scene Investigators and the Crime Lab. The Investigations Bureau is comprised of Crimes Against Persons, General Investigations (Property Crimes), and Economic Crimes. The Special Investigations Bureau consists of Narcotics, Vice, Gangs, Crime Task Force, Intelligence, and the Regional Narcotics Suppression Program. The Investigations Bureau performs four primary duties: providing investigative follow-up for all non-traffic related crimes; identifying, apprehending, and prosecuting criminal suspects; assisting crime victims and the department in suppression of crime; and the recovery of property.

The Special Investigations Bureau enforces laws related to the sales, manufacturing, transportation and use of illegal drugs; reviews and issues permits for a wide variety of regulated businesses; enforces Alcohol Beverage Control laws; gathers, analyzes and issues timely and relevant reports related to criminal intelligence; investigates Vice-related activity within the City; works collectively with the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force to identify, investigate and prevent human trafficking; gang enforcement; and addresses criminal series investigations and quality of life issues. The Investigation Division also has the responsibility of processing and examining computer forensic evidence as well as coordinating similar efforts with local and federal agencies. The Crime Lab is comprised of Crime Scene Investigators and Latent Fingerprint Examiners who have the responsibility to gather and process evidence, including photographic evidence, DNA, and the recovery of latent fingerprints.

The Special Operations Division manages the areas within the police department which are responsible for unique and specialized functions of law enforcement. This division is comprised of both sworn and civilian employees and includes traffic enforcement/investigations, DUI enforcement, School Resource Officers, parking enforcement, airborne/drone operations, the Air Support Unit, mounted enforcement, and the Homeless Task Force. Additionally, this division is tasked with planning and implementing the police department’s response to all special events held throughout the city.

The Special Operations Division is also responsible for overseeing the department’s use of special teams who respond to tactical situations, as well as planned and unplanned protests or events. These teams include S.W.A.T. (Special Weapons and Tactics), the Crisis Negotiation Team and the Mobile Field Force Team, which handles any civil unrest or unlawful gatherings. Also within the division is the Jail Bureau, which is responsible for processing, housing, caring for inmates and providing transportation of arrestees to the Orange County Jail or the Orange County court system.

The Support Services Division is comprised of Communications, Personnel, Property/Evidence, Records, Front Desk and Finance. Primary duties include receiving and processing 9-1-1 calls and routine business requests for police services; providing a state-of-the-art records keeping function; purchasing and issuing all equipment; maintaining the inventory of all seized property/evidence; provide in-person counter service; administration of the $84 million dollar budget and liaison with City Information Services.

Divisions

Did you know?

Contact Information