Police Patrol

The patrol section responds to approximately 16,000 calls for service each year. It is staffed by four patrol sergeants and fifteen police officers. The response time for emergency calls for police is outstanding, with the average response being less than six minutes.

The Island’s crime index, a measure of the crime rate per thousand citizens, is one of the lowest in the state. Mercer Island is a community that does not experience a high rate of serious crimes such as robberies, rapes, and assaults. During the year 2012, Mercer Island police officers issued 3,270 citations, made 277 arrests, and investigated 139 traffic accidents.
 
All new officers start their career in the Patrol section. Patrol officers are able to receive specialized training in areas such as Field Training for new officers and traffic accident investigation. Later, they may move to assignments in the Investigations Unit,  School Resource Officer, Narcotics Investigation and Emergency Management. The Department additionally has many specialized units in which officers may participate while working as patrol officers, such as Marine Patrol, Dive Team, Special Operations Team, and Bicycle Patrol.
 
Typically, each officer is trained for several other assignments in addition to their patrol work. This is how the Department is able to provide such a high level of service to the community with a limited number of officers.