The Department

Organizational Chart
Administration
Dispatch
Detectives
Traffic Unit
Patrol
K-9
Records
Evidence and Property
Gang Task Force
Crime Prevention
School Liaison
Computers & Information Systems
Volunteers and Reserves
Officer-Employee of the Year
Authorized Positions
Budget
Department Arm Patch

The police department is divided into two divisions: Administrative Services and Operations. Fifty officers and fifteen civilians are employed full-time. Civilian volunteers and police reserves supplement the department effort.

Administrative Services

The Administrative Services Division is responsible for managing the budget, the facilities, license and regulatory compliance, records, communications, property and evidence, investigations, gang task force, crime prevention, volunteer program and personnel and training. The division is led by Commander Steve Frazier. He is assisted by Sgt. Dino Lawson who is responsible for supervising personnel and training, crime prevention and volunteers;  Sgt. Robert Salas who supervises the investigations unit and Office Supervisor Lesa Chambers who supervises records and communications.

The Division operates the twenty-four hour dispatch center where both emergency 911 and non-emergency calls for service are received. The department historically receives some 40,000 calls for service each year. The records unit is responsible for maintaining records of the activity related to the calls for service. The property unit is responsible for securing the property received and evidence retrieved from crime scenes. The unit also arranges for forensic examination of evidence for the department.

The investigations unit of the division is comprised of five investigators responsible for follow up on the preliminary investigations conducted by officers responding to initial calls. These investigators also respond to the scene of major crimes and consult with the officers handling the incident. The investigators, depending on need, then conduct crime scene processing and witness/suspect interviews. The investigations unit is also responsible for maintaining the department effort in tracking and registering convicted sex offenders, narcotics addicts and arsonists. An investigator is assigned to coordinate the department effort to provide public access to register sex offender information through a computer data base (Megan's Law). The computer is located in the records unit and available to the public during regular business hours. Additionally, one investigator is assigned to a county-wide narcotics task force (MADNET).

The gang task force unit is responsible for gathering, verifying, and validating the existence of gang affiliation and activity for the department. While not a unit that is responsible for primary enforcement activities, the unit does perform enforcement support when the need arises. Officers of the unit are court certified gang experts who have testified in cases in various jurisdictions in the state.

Personnel and training is responsible for the recruiting effort for the department. The sergeant has a team of officers who assist him in conducting police officer oral qualifications appraisals at police academies around the state, as well as at the police department. Typically, the teams will make two extended trips per year to visit selected police academies to recruit candidates. Dispatchers and records clerks are recruited from a variety of local markets. The unit is also responsible for training of all employees of the department. The department maintains a training plan that is specific for each position in the department and an automated system to manage the records. Training needs are developed and reviewed yearly in order to plan and implement the training.

The unit also is responsible for the crime prevention efforts of the department. Officer Durbin Lloren is assigned full-time to crime prevention.  The crime prevention officer is also assigned to coordinate the volunteer program. Citizen volunteers are trained to assist in the various units of the department.

Operations

The Operations Division is responsible for the department’s initial response to calls for service. The Division is led by Commander Randy Williams who is assisted by Sergeants Matt Wiles, Tom Burns, Johnnie Smith, Chuck Wasson, and Michael Powell. The Division has three work units: patrol, traffic and police reserves.

The patrol unit is divided into four work teams each supervised by a sergeant. The team works together for one year. The unit is constructed in this manner to promote the officers’ ability to apply problem oriented policing. The patrol unit works on three day/four day twelve hour schedule. Some twenty-five police officers are assigned to the patrol unit. Within the patrol unit are several Field Training Officers who are tasked with the primary on-the-job-training of new police officer recruits. The recruits must complete the intensive 14-20 week program before being certified for solo patrol duties.

Also within the patrol unit are three police canine officers. These officers have take home vehicles in order to facilitate their response to call outs. The department purchases street ready dogs for this program. The dogs have apprehension and search capabilities.

The Division has four police motorcycle officers who are dedicated to traffic enforcement and collision investigation. The officers work a four day-10.5 hour schedule and are staggered to provide seven day coverage.

The Division has two school liaison officers who are assigned to the high school and one at the Thomas Jefferson and Martin Luther King middle schools on a full-time basis. They are responsible for law enforcement activities at their respective schools.

One officer is assigned to the City of Madera Housing Authority on a full-time basis. He is responsible for the law enforcement and community policing activities associated with Authority properties.

Finally, the Division is assisted by a contingent of reserve police officers. These officers volunteer their time to bolster the efforts of the patrol unit. The department provides all uniforms and equipment for the reserve officers.