The Elizabethton Police Department provides a variety of services to our community. In addition to the "traditional" police services of patrol and criminal investigation, the department has in place several specialized divisions that enhance the overall level of service provided to the community. Many of these specialized divisions are manned by officers who conduct the specialized activities in addition to their primary assignments: patrol, administration, or criminal investigations.

Modern law enforcement embraces a wide variety of activities in order to serve the community. Many activities are "as-needed," the need for which often arises from the demographics of the community itself. For example, the need for a traffic division is an important, ongoing issue in our community. Thus, the Elizabethton Police Department has activated a Traffic Division. There is, currently, very little need for enforcement of immigration laws here. Thus, there is no "Immigration Enforcement Division." A department in rural parts of Texas, for example, may have different priorities, based on the demographics of its jurisdiction and thus may have an "Immigration Enforcement Division," but no Traffic Division. Law enforcement agencies focus their activities in this way to best address the needs of their respective communities in the most efficient manner possible. The Elizabethton Police Department is no exception to this general rule.

This is a dynamic process as well. Over time, a particular issue may arise that a given department finds a need to address. This leads to the formulation of a mission statement; a clear, concise statement of the problem and the desired outcome of the department's actions in addressing it. In many instances, the department will then formulate an operating procedure and personnel assignment process, send officers to specialized training, procure needed specialized equipment, provide for any necessary in-service training, and field the unit. Following the units activation, analyses are performed periodically to gauge the effectiveness of the unit in accomplishing its mission, determine the presence, if any, of deficiencies (in personnel, equipment, operating procedure, and/or training), and provide recommendations for improvement/addressing noted deficiencies. These steps create a "dynamic feedback loop," where the department recognizes a problem, takes steps to resolve the problem, then determines if the problem was resolved in a satisfactory fashion. The solution to the many problems encountered by a community may rest with the police department itself or with the interaction between the department, other departments, other governmental agencies (within and outside of the city and/or state), community leaders (formal and informal), and the media. The Elizabethton Police Department strives to maintain an open-minded, "out of the box" approach to problem solving, so as to best serve our community.

The operations listed in these pages are those that are a permanent part of the department's structure. Other operations may be undertaken by the department in the future to address issues that may arise then. These operations may also be permanent or may last only as long as it takes to address whatever issue they are formulated for.

The links to the left lead to pages that outline each of the department's primary activities, including patrol and criminal investigations.