Department Organization
The Town and Country Police Department is committed to providing the most professional and effective law enforcement service possible to the residents of our City. To achieve our commitment in an efficient and effective manner we follow the basic tenet that form follows function. The following summary is provided to illustrate the basic functions of each Division and how they are organized to serve the City of Town and Country.
The Operations Division consists of four units:
PATROL UNIT
The Patrol Unit provides the following core services:
¨ Primary Response to Calls
¨ Proactive in the Enforcement of State Law and Local Ordinances
Four patrol squads are scheduled to provide both maximum coverage and timely responses 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Each squad is comprised of three patrol officers, a corporal and a sergeant. The City is divided into three primary sectors or beats with an officer assigned to each. The corporal and sergeant provide additional patrol coverage, as well as ensuring continuity and quality of supervision and other support needs. (
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TRAFFIC SAFETY UNIT
Four traffic officers comprise the Traffic Safety Unit, which is responsible for:
· Traffic Crash Investigation
· Enforcement of Traffic Laws
· Crash Reduction Strategies
· Traffic Control Details
· Liaison with Highway and Safety Organizations
· Court Security
The Traffic Safety Unit has primary responsibility for responding to most incidents that occur on the interstate highways. This enables the patrol officers to devote the majority of their efforts to the neighborhoods and business districts of the City.
While the Traffic Safety Unit comprises only 12% of the department’s personnel, its members consistently perform 40% of the total enforcement activity and handle 40% of all traffic accidents, providing further evidence of effective deployment strategies. (Return to Top)
COPPS/CRIME PREVENTION UNIT
The COPPS (Community-Oriented Policing & Problem solving) Unit is staffed by one police officer who carries out many of the vital functions that link the community with the police department, including:
¨ Citizens’ Police Academies (basic, advanced and senior)
¨ Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Training
¨ Crime Prevention Safety Network (CPSN)
¨ Crime Prevention Presentations
¨ School Resource Officer
¨ Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE)
INVESTIGATIVE UNIT
The Detective Bureau is the only non-uniform unit of the Operations Division. This unit consists of 
three detectives, one of
whom is a sergeant. The detectives have primary responsibility for:
L Crime Scene Processing
L Follow-Up Investigations
L Juvenile Offenses
L Child Abuse and Neglect
L Background Investigations (pre-employment process and liquor license applications)
The detectives are on-call 24 hours a day and receive extensive training in crime scene processing and investigative techniques. They are also members of the Greater St. Louis Major Case Squad, which investigates high-profile homicides in the greater St. Louis area. (Return to Top)
ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES DIVISION
The Administrative Services Division consists of three units:
COMMUNICATIONS UNIT
Our state-of-the-art communications center, which began operation in May of 2000, was specifically developed to further our ability to provide exceptional public safety services to the Town & Country Community as well as to the officers who provide these services.
Knowing that public safety communications centers are often the first point of contact between those in need and our police department, our communications personnel are trained to handle emergency situations with efficiency and courtesy. The on-duty communications specialist promptly answers all calls for service. Whether you call 911 for an emergency or our 314-432-1000 non-emergency number for information, there will always be a knowledgeable and skilled dispatcher available to assist you. The communications center personnel dispatch over 12,000 calls for service each year.
All requests for police services are prioritized based on the nature of the call. Situations that require an emergency police response include crimes in progress, injurious car crashes, life-threatening medical situations and other circumstances where the police are needed immediately. Non-emergency calls for police service are prioritized based on the dispatcher’s conversation with the caller. Our officer’s response time to emergency calls is usually within three minutes, and response to non-emergency calls for service is ordinarily within 3-7 minutes.
Requests for Fire and EMS services are forwarded to Central County Emergency 911. Central County 911 dispatches for many St. Louis County Fire and EMS agencies, including the West County EMS and Fire District, which services Town & Country. Once an emergency medical or fire call is transferred to Central County 911, the Town & Country Police Dispatcher will stay on the line for a three-way call, while the Fire and EMS dispatcher interviews the caller. Central County 911 dispatchers are trained to provide “pre-arrival” medical instructions for callers while the appropriate fire or EMS equipment, along with a Town & Country Police Officer, are dispatched.
RECORDS UNIT
The records unit is responsible for the following vital components of the department:
* Statistical Data Management
* Personnel Records
* County, State and Federal Reporting Systems Through the Missouri Uniform Law Enforcement System
and the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting
* Sunshine Law Compliance
In 2006 the unit processed 3,177 reports, 11,455 traffic summonses and 1,396 arrest reports. This unit also managed the collection and transfer of over $300,000 in bond money from arrested subjects. Record Room personnel also supply local, state and federal systems with report data for analysis and administrative actions. This includes criminal, traffic accident, and DWI information. (Return to Top)
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT UNIT
The resource management unit is responsible for the following:
Þ Fiscal Management and Budgeting
Þ Training
Þ Inventory
Þ Evidence and Property Control
Þ Fleet Management
Þ Hiring Processes
CONCLUSION
The Town and Country Police Department is comprised of 45 individuals and many organizational components, but with a singular purpose of providing an exemplary level of service and protection.