The Support Services Division is led by Captain Robin Sells. Captain Sells began her law enforcement career as a police dispatcher with Huntington Beach Police Department. While working full time as a dispatcher she put herself through the police academy, and upon graduation started her career as a Police Officer with the Buena Park Police Department in 1985. Captain Sells possesses a Bachelor of Science Degree from California State University at Long Beach and is a graduate of the Sherman Block Supervisory Leadership Institute.
Her work ethic, dedication and determination helped her excel as she worked a variety of assignments including patrol, detectives, D.A.R.E., and school resource officer. She was promoted to Sergeant in 1995 and became the Crimes Persons Sergeant in the detective bureau, followed by assignments in the Professional Standards Unit, patrol and the Problem Oriented Policing (P.O.P.) Team.
She was promoted to Lieutenant in 2004, and served as the Traffic Lieutenant and Auxiliary Services Lieutenant. In November of 2010, she was promoted to the rank of Captain, where she currently leads the Support Services Division, sharing her 30 years of law enforcement experience with her division.
During her time at Buena Park Police Department she has been selected as Officer of the Year and also received a Lifesaving Award for her actions in reviving a young child who was unconscious after falling into a pool. Additionally she has been honored by the American Legion for Heroism.
The Support Services Division is a group of highly skilled professional men and women who provide a varied array of essential services to our Community. As the name suggests, one of the primary functions is providing support to our uniformed personnel. This support takes a variety of forms ranging from the processing of all records and reports, to the follow up investigations by our Detectives and Forensic Specialists.
The officers and civilian employees of this Division spend much of their time working in relative anonymity within the confines of the Police Department. The Support Services Division is comprised of two bureaus, Auxiliary Services and Investigations Bureau.
Auxiliary Services is responsible for all the training of both officers and our civilian personnel, Media Relations, Crime Prevention, Community Relations, the Police Explorer Program, the Citizen Assisting Police Volunteer Program, the Citizen Police Academy, the C.E.R.T. Program, Court Liaison, records processing, report transcription, the managing of all property and evidence, purchasing, the Information Technology Unit, and the Field Training Officer Program just to name a few.
An annual undertaking for the Auxiliary Services Bureau is the Police Department’s Open House. This event gives our citizens the opportunity to tour our police facility, meet with police officers, police support personnel, other City divisions such as Public Works, Parks and Recreation and Code Enforcement, in addition to a few community groups and organizations. We enjoy hosting the Open House year after, and keeping the lines of communication open between our Department and our Community.
The Property and Evidence Technician collects and processes over ten thousand pieces of property that is taken as evidence, found property or for safe-keeping. Our Police Clerks processed over 11,000 reports and almost 32,000 citations annually. Our Citizen Assisting Police Volunteers donate over 13,000 hours to our Community and the Police Department every year. They assist with neighborhood vacation checks and P.O.P. Team Inspection, canvassing the City during critical missing person situations, and guide station tours of our police facility, just to name a few.
The Investigations Bureau is comprised of 1 Lieutenant, 3 Sergeants, 18 Investigators, 2 Investigative Aides and 3 Forensic Specialists. Together, this Bureau is responsible for the follow up and investigations of over 4,000 criminal cases annually. These cases ranged from vandalism to murder, burglaries to identity theft and everything in between.
While the personnel in the Support Services Division is not as visible as our uniformed personnel, these individuals play an equally important role in the delivery of police services to the Community members and visitors of Buena Park. And we look forward to continue providing excellent service to the Buena Park Community!