Special Unit
The most visible presence in the community for most police agencies is the marked patrol unit. It is the backbone of the Department, and the primary responder to calls for police service. Almost half of Burbank's sworn police officers are assigned to Patrol. Their responsibilities include such varied duties as traffic and DUI enforcement, preventive patrol, taking crime reports, reporting malfunctioning traffic signals or street lights, and responding to routine and emergency calls for service.
One of the many functions of the Burbank Police Department Traffic Bureau is to reduce or eliminate traffic collisions and to improve traffic flow throughout our City. This is so important to our Department that we have included this in our Mission Statement.
School Resource Officers/Outreach Center
The Juvenile Detail which includes School Resource Officers and the Outreach Center investigates juvenile crimes and child abuse. The School Resource Officer's also teach the D.A.R.E. program.
Air Support
The Air Support Unit provides airborne crime suppression, responds to crimes and other critical incidents, coordinates field responses and enhances officer safety. The unit also engages in special operations assisting other City departments, with emphasis on narcotics interdiction and aiding the Fire Department in airborne command and control operations involving vertical insertion of firefighters and equipment.
The
Patrol Division includes the K-9 officers, who work a regular patrol shift,
but with a specially trained dog as their partner. They excel at searching buildings for suspects or lost
persons, and in detecting narcotics with their keen sense of smell.
Law enforcement agencies in the past have used conventional methods of patrolling – cars, motorcycles, and foot beats. However, most police agencies have found that business activity, combined with pedestrian traffic, has created areas of increased traffic congestion which renders conventional patrol methods ineffective. This created the need for a new, more innovative and flexible patrol method, the bicycle patrol.
Officers of the Mounted Unit also have other full-time assignments. They purchase, maintain and equip their own horses, and regularly train so that they are readily available for call-outs or special details
Retail Crime Unit
The Patrol Division also includes the Retail Crime Unit these officers are assigned to the Storefront Substation at the Media City Center. Officers on foot or bicycle and in vehicles patrol in and around the entire Burbank Village. Officers patrol the Burbank Village regularly on specially constructed and equipped bicycles. They are able to have much higher levels of citizen contact, and also provide a significant enforcement presence in the area
Communication Center
The Communications Center answers all 911 calls made from fixed location phones in the City of Burbank. Calls needing firefighters, paramedics or other medical needs are promptly transferred, but even then the dispatchers stay on the line in case there is also a need for police services. Our enhanced 911 system immediately provides the dispatcher taking the call with the location of the calling phone.