San Diego Police Department

San Diego Police Department
Abbreviation	SDPD
Designed in 1988, these patches were originally brown to match the tan uniforms of the time.
Motto	America's Finest
Agency overview
Formed	1889
Employees	2781
Volunteers	840
Annual budget	$277 million
Legal personality	Governmental: Government agency
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction*	City of San Diego in the state of California, United States
Population	1,400,000 residents
General nature	Law enforcement Local civilian agency
Operational structure
Headquarters	1401 Broadway, San Diego, CA 92101
Sworn members	approximately 2100 officers
Unsworn members	approximately 600 support staff and non-sworn officers
Agency executive	William Landowne, Chief of Police
Facilities
Stations	Headquarters building located in downtown. 9 divisional patrol stations (named by their area in the city: Central, Western, Eastern, Southern, Southeastern, Mid-City, Northeastern, Northern, Northwestern). Specialized stations include Traffic Division, K-9 Unit, Harbor Patrol Unit (Dana Point), Mounted Enforcement Unit (Balboa Park), and Range. The department has numerous community storefronts as well.
Website
San Diego Police Department
Footnotes
* Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction.

San Diego Police ABLE helicopter

The San Diego Police Department (SDPD) is the primary law enforcement agency for the city of San Diego, California. Established on May 9, 1889, the first chief of police was Joseph Coyne. The current police chief is William Lansdowne.

History

Prior to 1889, law enforcement in San Diego was handled by city marshals and constables. Between 1845 and 1850, the town was under military control.^{[citation needed]} In 1850, the state senate drew up a charter providing for a five-man city council assisted by a marshal, an attorney, an assessor and a treasurer. The voters chose Agostin Haraszthy as both sheriff and marshal.

The frontier lawman was patrolman, detective, criminologist, jailor, process server, clerk and executioner. His first requirement was raw courage. He depended upon the gun on his hip to back up his orders. His first interest was in keeping alive and bringing the culprit to justice, dead or alive.

In 1850, the council decided to build a town jail. Two bids were received, one from the Israel brothers for $3,000 and the other from Haraszthy for $5,000. Because Haraszthy's father was president of the council, Haraszthy got the contract -- bankrupting the city. Four hours after the first prisoner was incarcerated, he dug his way through the wall with a pocket knife.

The city eventually purchased a cage and put its first escape-proof jail in the Old Town Plaza. In 1871, the jail was moved to the location of the present county courthouse at Front and C Streets in new San Diego.

The metropolitan San Diego Police Department was established May 16, 1889. On June 1 of that year, Joseph Coyne, the city marshal, was appointed the first chief of police.

The first police uniform consisted of derby hats, coats with high collars and badges with seven-point stars. Chief Coyne was paid $125 a month, his officers $100 a month; they worked 12-hour days, seven days a week. In 1895 shifts were reduced to eight hours -- but salaries also dropped: $25 a month. Mounted patrolmen furnished their own horses, but did receive $100 a month for feed and care of their animals. The modern mounted patrol began in 1934 in Balboa Park. It was abolished in 1948, but was re-established in 1983 and remains active today.

Among other milestones: Harry Vandeberg was the first detective (1907); W. E. Hill was the department's first motorcycle officer (1909); the first traffic signal was installed around 1920 at Fifth Avenue and Broadway (it was manually controlled by an officer who stood in the center of the intersection); the crime lab was established in 1939; patrol cars got one-way radios in 1932, two-way radios four years later; and the first reserves appeared on the scene in 1942.

The first police headquarters was in City Hall at Fifth Avenue and G Street. Several moves later, the department relocated at Dead Man's Point, named because of its use as a burial place for sailors and marines during the charting and surveying of San Diego Bay. The department remained there -- at 801 West Market Street -- until 1987, when it moved into its current seven-story headquarters building at 1401 Broadway.

In 2011, motorcycle officer Christopher Hall, suspected of DUI after hitting a car and fleeing the scene in Costa Mesa, committed suicide by shooting himself in the head with a gun.

Divisions

• Northern Division
• Northeastern Division
• Northwestern Division
• Eastern Division
• Southeastern Division
• Central Division
• Western Division
• Southern Division
• Mid City Division
• Map of Police Department Neighborhoods

Special units

Special units of the San Diego Police Department include:

• Air Support Unit (ABLE, or AirBorne Law Enforcement)
• Auto Theft Unit
• Background Investigations Unit and Recruiting
• Cadet Program
• Canine (K-9)
• Child Abuse Unit
• Cold Case Homicide Team
• Communications Division
• Crime analysis
• Criminal Intelligence Unit
• Crisis intervention
• Domestic Violence Unit
• Elder and Dependent Abuse Unit
• Field Training Officer Administration (FTO)
• Financial Crimes Unit
• Homeless Outreach Team
• Identity Theft Unit
• Forensic Science Laboratory Division
• Gang Suppression Unit
• Harbor Patrol Unit (part of Northern Command)
• Homicide Unit
• Juvenile Administration Section
• Metro Arson Strike Team (MAST)
• Media Relations
• Mounted Enforcement Unit (retired due to budget)
• Narcotics Unit
• Parking Enforcement
• Robbery Unit
• Sex Crimes Unit
• SWAT/SRT (Special Response Team)
• Traffic Division, Accident Investigation Bureau, Motor Squad, Special Services
• Vice Operations Section, Permits and Licensing

About SDPD

• Headquarters Directory
• Mission Statement
• Community Oriented Policing
• Problem Oriented Policing
• Organizational Chart
• San Diego Police Department Historical Association
• Fallen Heroes
• San Diego Police Foundation

Current Ranking Structure

Title	Insignia	Insignia Located
Chief		Uniform Collar
Executive Assistant Chief		Uniform Collar
Assistant Chief		Uniform Collar
Captain		Uniform Collar
Lieutenant		Uniform Collar
Sergeant		Uniform Sleeve
Agent (Obsolete Rank)		Uniform Sleeve
Detective		Non-Uniformed
Police Officer II		No collar device, no chevron
Police Officer I		No collar device, no chevron
Police Recruit		No collar device, no chevron

Fallen officers

Since the department's establishment, 32 officers have died in the line of duty.

Officer	Date of Death	Details
Officer Emery E. Campbell	August 27, 1913	Gunfire
Sergeant Oliver S. Hopkins	July 2, 1915	Vehicular assault
Patrolman Walter B. Holcomb	October 21, 1918	Spanish flu from transporting the ill
Officer Joseph S. Lee	March 19, 1921	Vehicle pursuit
Detective Charles R. Harris	April 3, 1927	Gunfire
Officer Robert Lee Powers	June 16, 1928	Vehicular assault
Patrolman Robert B. McPherson	September 19, 1929	Assault
Patrolman Edward J. Moore	January 15, 1933	Gunfire
Patrolman Thomas A. Keays	November 20, 1937	Heart attack
Officer Henry J. Goodrich	September 7, 1940	Motorcycle accident
Patrolman Robert F. Bowers	December 12, 1955	Vehicle pursuit
Sergeant Harry Kay Jr.	March 11, 1957	Automobile accident
Patrolman Michael J. Bushman	November 25, 1963	Automobile accident
Sergeant Robert L. Everitt	December 7, 1964	Struck by vehicle
Patrolman James P. Lewis	December 29, 1970	Gunfire
Sergeant Freddie Joel Edwards	October 7, 1971	Gunfire
Patrolman Denis W. Allen]	April 2, 1977	Gunfire
Patrolman Archie C. Buggs	November 4, 1978	Gunfire
Patrolman Michael T. Anaya]	April 11, 1979	Gunfire
Patrolman Dennis Glenn Gonzales	June 25, 1979	Struck by vehicle
Patrolman Harry Keith Tiffany	Saturday, June 6, 1981	Gunfire
Patrolman Ronald R. Ebeltoft	June 6, 1981	Gunfire
Patrolman Kirk Leland Johnson	February 20, 1983	Gunfire
Police Officer Kimberly Sue Tonahill	September 14, 1984	Gunfire
Patrolman Timothy J. Ruopp	September 16, 1984	Gunfire
Agent Thomas E. Riggs	March 31, 1985	Gunfire
Patrolman Jerry L. Hartless	January 31, 1988	Gunfire
Officer Ronald Wayne Davis	September 17, 1991	Gunfire
Officer Gerald Kieffer Griffin Jr.	April 25, 2003	Struck by vehicle
Officer Terry William Bennett	June 26, 2003	Vehicular assault
Officer Christopher A. Wilson	October 27, 2010	Gunfire
Officer Jeremy Henwood	August 6, 2011	Gunfire
Officer Jason Prokop	October 1, 2011	Struck by Vehicle

See also

• List of law enforcement agencies in California

External links

• San Diego Police Department