Tampa Police Department
| Tampa Police Department | |
|---|---|
| Common name | Tampa Police Department |
| Abbreviation | TPD |
MASCOTTE
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| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 1855 |
| Preceding agencies | |
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Operations jurisdiction* | State of Florida, United States |
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| Tampa Police's jurisdiction. | |
| Legal jurisdiction | Tampa, FL |
| General nature |
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| Operational structure | |
| Chief responsible | Eric Ward |
| Website | |
| www |
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| Footnotes | |
| * Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction. | |
The Tampa Police Department (TPD) provides crime prevention and public safety services for the city of Tampa, Florida. The Tampa Police Department has over 1000 authorized sworn law enforcement personnel positions and more than 350 civilian and support staff personnel positions.
Uniformed officers are deployed on a four days on, four days off work cycle, with an average of twelve officers per squad
In 1855 the first official law enforcement position created was City Marshall by an act to incorporate the City of Tampa. Over the next 18 years the City Marshall’s duties and responsibilities were expanded to include summoning members of patrol by midnight along with examining and recording marks and brands on butchered cattle.
In 1886, the first police force was created in Tampa by passage of another city ordinance and thus began the Tampa Police Department some fifty-one years after the first police force in America was created. Tampa’s first police force was quite small, with a Chief of Police replacing the City Marshall, aided by an Assistant Chief, a Sergeant and three mounted officers. But some key elements of a modern police force were instituted during that time. Standards for officer qualification were established based on merit and physical fitness and officers began wearing uniforms. Two detective positions were also added during this period of time. The following year, on July 15, 1887, the town of Tampa officially incorporated as a city.
Over the next 26 years the Tampa Police Department evolved through a number of reorganizations, adding and subtracting positions, establishing a pension plan for officers and developing rules and regulations dealing with officer’s conduct. In 1913 the department created its first Identification Officer position. The officer assigned to the position used the Bertillion System of identification, which preceded the fingerprint method used today in law enforcement. The Bertillion System used a process of measuring body parts such as the nose, eyes and hands along with other characteristics to identify individuals.
1915 was a landmark year as the department relocated to its new headquarters located at Florida Avenue and Jackson Street in Downtown Tampa. That same year Tampa saw the advent of a revolutionary tool in local law enforcement, the automobile. Tampa added an officer to the motored assignment who was both chauffeur and mechanic for the department. In 1936, with automotive thefts rising, the department added an Auto Theft Bureau to deal with this relatively new dilemma. Additional functions such as parking meter enforcement were added to the tasks performed by the department along with an expanded role in traffic law enforcement.
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Wikipedia