Philadelphia Police Department | |
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Abbreviation | PPD |
Patch of the Philadelphia Police Department
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Badge of the Philadelphia Police Department
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Flag of the City of Philadelphia
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Motto | Honor, Integrity, Service |
Agency overview | |
Formed | 1751 |
Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
Jurisdictional structure | |
Operations jurisdiction* | City of Philadelphia in the state of Pennsylvania, United States |
General nature | |
Operational structure | |
Headquarters |
"The Roundhouse" nickname |
Police Officers | 6,400 (2014) 2013–2014 hiring 150 new officers (due to high retirements in FYs 2013–2015 in the police department). By FY2015 to have a sworn force of 6,525 |
Agency executive | Richard Ross, Commissioner |
Website | |
Official Site | |
Footnotes | |
* Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction. |
"The Roundhouse" nickname
750 Race Street
The Philadelphia Police Department (PPD or Philly PD) is the police agency responsible for law enforcement and investigations within the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The PPD is the oldest municipal police agency, fourth largest police force and sixth largest non-federal law enforcement agency in the United States. Since records were first kept in 1828, at least 270 PPD officers have died in the line of duty.
The PPD employs over 6,400 sworn officers and over 800 civilian personnel, and patrols an area of 369.4 km² (142.6 mi²) with a population of almost 1.5 million. The department is subdivided into 21 patrol districts, and like many other large municipal police forces, it incorporates many special units such as a K-9 squad, SWAT, bomb squad, community relations unit, and marine unit. The highest-ranking officer is Commissioner Richard Ross.
The head of the PPD is the commissioner, who is appointed by the mayor. The current commissioner is Richard Ross (2016 – Present). Under the commissioner are two three-star deputy commissioners. The First Deputy Commissioner heads Field Operations. The Deputy Commissioner and Chief Administrative Officer heads Organizational Services, Strategy, and Innovation.
The Office of Field Operations is headed by the three-star First Deputy Commissioner of Field Operations, currently Myron Patterson (2016 – Present). The force comprises two commands, Patrol Operations and, Specialized Operations and Homeland Security; each command is headed by a two-star Deputy Commissioner. The Specialized Operations and Homeland Security command is headed by a two-star Deputy Commissioner, currently Dennis Wilson, and divided into two bureaus, Specialized Investigations and Homeland Security Bureau; each is headed by a chief inspector and further subdivided into several units.
The Office of Organizational Services, Strategy, and Innovation is headed by the three-star Deputy Commissioner and Chief Administrative Officer, currently Christine Coulter (2016 – Present).
Patrol Operations is headed by a two-star Deputy Commissioner of Patrol Operations, currently Joseph Sullivan, who oversees both the patrol and detective units. Patrol Operations is divided into two regional commands, Regional Operations Command (North) and Regional Operations Command (South). Each regional command is headed by a chief inspector, and is subdivided into three divisions (ROC-North: East, Northwest, Northeast; ROC-South: Central, Southwest, South). Each division is headed by an inspector. A division comprises three or four districts; there are 21 patrol districts in all, and each district is headed by a captain. Each district is subdivided into three or four police service areas (PSA's), each headed by a lieutenant, for a total of 64 PSA's citywide.