Monroe County (NY) Rochester City PD

As of June, 2004, RPD was reorganized in an effort to increase patrol efficiency and to save taxpayer money on administrative costs and staffing. This most recent reorganization divides the City into only two parts - East and West. The East Side commander is responsible for patrol operations in the former Highland, Goodman, and Clinton Sections (see below), as well as the Staff Duty Officer and Special Events Sections. The West Side Commander runs patrol operations in the former Lake, Maple, Genesee, and Downtown Sections, along with the Bomb Squad, Scuba Squad, Emergency Task Force, Hostage Negotiation Team, and Mobile Field Force, and supervises the Tactical, Traffic, Youth Services, and Animal Control Units. All patrol unit numbers now have 4 digits. The listing below will be updated as information becomes available.

Here is an official map of RPD's Patrol Service Areas in PDF format (click on Here, which is a link).

The numbering and geographical coverage of the RPD Sections reflect the evolution of the department. Around 1975, RPD cars had numbers like Charlie-19 and King-34. The three patrol zones were Adam, Baker and Charlie, with King designating investigators. Suburban police departments used the numbers in the 100-499 series that RPD is using now.

When the City was first carved up into Sections, there were seven of them. Downtown (inside the Inner Loop) was shared by Maple (2), Highland (4) and Atlantic (5) Sections. Patrol sections were based on geographical and cultural boundaries. They were further subdivided into car beats according to the percentage of police responses within each portion of the section. This time roughly corresponded with the general renumbering of all police units in Monroe County as they formed a Mobile Radio District (MRD).

The first digit of an RPD car number generally indicates whether it is a supervisory, patrol or specialized unit. (see table) The second digit of a patrol car number indicates what part of the Section it patrols. Lower numbers are closer to the downtown area. The third digit tells the unit's patrol Section.

Fiscal problems caused the department to restructure its patrol division. The old Atlantic (5) Section was consolidated with Highland (4). The car beats retained their Atlantic numbers, but there was no longer a separate office or command staff.

Not long after this, it became necessary to establish a patrol section to handle the special needs of the City's business and cultural center within the Inner Loop. Section 9 - Downtown - was born. Maple and Highland eliminated their 232 and 235 car beats and changed some of their beat boundaries for better coverage.

Being physically smaller than the other Sections and having relatively little "bedroom" population, Downtown had only three beat areas and a host of special daytime units. The Downtown Section is responsible for the Traffic Enforcement Unit, prisoner transport wagons and the Mounted Patrol. There is also a Tactical Section (8) that includes surveillance operations, special details and police dogs. Tactical assists the patrol sections during busy periods.

January, 1993 saw a slight reorganization of the city's patrol section boundaries. Maple Section was expanded into the southern part of Lake Section, while Clinton and Goodman Sections added coverage toward the east and south. Downtown Section expanded into Clinton and Highland Sections to allow the department to follow future economic development and to reduce the volume of calls for the larger sections.

During the Summer of 1997, a citywide redistricting took place. Lake Section became much smaller, while Clinton and Maple Sections were enlarged. The Highland Section's patrol beats were renumbered so that all regular cars would have the number "4" at the end. The "Highland 5" cars are now assigned to 4th Platoon.

Many specialized services are provided by sworn RPD police officers. There is the Special Tactical Forces Squad (SWAT team), Hazardous Device Disposal Squad (the Bomb Squad), the Criminal Investigation Division and the Special Criminal Investigation Service. Services offered by non-sworn civilian personnel include the Family Crisis Intervention Team, the Child Abuse Reduction & Enforcement unit and the Victim Assistance unit.

Animal Control units staffed by the Humane Society of Monroe County operate on RPD Channel 3. There are several other specialized units that may be heard when certain types of crimes or other incidents occur. Special Accident investigators handle serious or fatal motor vehicle accidents and those that involve DWI. Professional Standards is RPD's "Internal Affairs" unit. Physical Crimes is part of CID and investigates homicides and other violent crimes against people. Evidence Technicians respond when photos need to be taken of a crime scene or when there is physical evidence to be processed or impounded.

The Staff Duty Officer, in car 410, is in charge of the street operations of the Department during the afternoon (3rd Platoon) and overnight (1st Platoon) shifts. Undercover units such as Narcotics have the highest car numbers (above 480). They can appear on the air at any time of the day or night and their presence can signal exciting radio traffic to follow.

The unique marking "First in New York" appears on the fenders of some older RPD patrol cars. This is because the Rochester Police Department was the first police department in New York State to receive accreditation by the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

New police cars began appearing on city streets toward the end of 1992. The newer cars were 1993 Ford LTD Crown Victorias. The RPD markings were applied to these cars with blue reflective tape, instead of blue paint. These new RPD patrol vehicles look very sharp, especially at night with news camera lights shining on them.

Marked State Police cars are rarely seen answering calls within the City of Rochester. In order to free more RPD officers to answer emergencies in their patrol beats, RPD and NYSP entered into a special agreement in late Spring, 1991. Under the GRIP (Greater Rochester Interstate Patrol) agreement, troopers now patrol the expressways within the City of Rochester, including routes 104, 490, 590 and the Inner Loop. The State Police continue to patrol all other area expressways as well.

During certain types of major incident, Rochester police units are assembled into Task Forces and dispatched in groups. Task Force numbers are assigned at the time of the incident and can be readily identified as being different from the regular RPD number series. Each Task Force is assigned to an assembly point and the units respond together to each call, then return there. This style of operation was used during the disturbances that followed the Rodney King trial verdict.

Rochester PD operates the 10th largest bicycle patrol in the nation, with 40 officers assigned. Bicycle patrol units identify as "Bike ##", with the second digit denoting the officer's assigned patrol section.

Numerous proactive crime prevention programs operate within the City, in cooperation with various neighborhood associations and the police. A recent development consists of the six NET offices (Neighborhood Empowerment Team). NET offices serve one or more Sector as designated under the Neighbors Building Neighborhoods (NBN) program. The Crime Prevention Officer in each Section used to be a single officer who worked the day shift on weekdays. Now each Section has at least one CPO for each NBN Sector within that section. In addition to using the old 17# numbers, CPOs identify in "CP-Sector-Section" format. For example, the CPO for the Maplewood (Sector 2) portion of Lake Section is known as CP21.

Lake Section operates a step van with the lettering "ACT-1" on the side. ACT stands for "Against Crime Together". The van was purchased jointly by four neighborhood associations, the Maplewood Business Association, and Kodak. It is used for various public events and is staffed by specially trained civilian volunteers.

By mid-2004, RPD had been reaorganized again into two major patrol divisions separated by the Genesee River, with the old Downtown Section remaining as part of the West Side. All administrative and support functions are also assigned under the East or West Side. Rather than reproduce the command structure here, I refer the interested reader to Rochester PD's own web site. The following table shows the new numbering system.

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