The Buena Park Police Department Patrol Bureau is the largest of the bureaus within the department. The Patrol Bureau consists of officers, corporals, sergeants, and lieutenants who provide exemplary service to the Buena Park community 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Police Lieutenants, function as Patrol Watch Commanders, who command and lead the Patrol Bureau, efficiently coordinating the necessary resources for their officers and sergeants, to provide the highest quality of serve to the community. Police Sergeants provide guidance, coaching, and training for the officers and corporals under their command. The sergeants are responsible for all field operations and take charge of critical incidents as they occur within the City. The Patrol Bureau’s authorized staffing consist of 38 combined police officers and corporals, two canine officers, two school resource officers, and the Problem-Oriented Policing Team.
The Patrol Bureau’s mission is to provide the finest quality of police services possible, and to protect and serve the Buena Park Community. They are the first responders for calls for any type of police assistance. Every member of the Patrol Bureau is critical to the overall success of the bureau, and they work hard to proactively reduce the public’s fear of crime, identify and eradicate circumstances that nurture criminal activity, and improve conditions that have a detrimental effect upon public safety in Buena Park.
The officers in the Patrol Bureau are divided into shifts for each day of the week based on the number and nature of calls for service. The City of Buena Park is divided into five areas known as “beats.” Officers are assigned a beat during each shift; usually the same beat, so they become familiar with crime trends. The officers partner-up with one another, as well as members of the community, to identify and solve quality-of-life issues within the city.
All patrol officers are thoroughly trained to investigate a wide variety of criminal activity and receive ongoing training in lifesaving techniques, firearms, self-defense, defensive driving, report writing, search and seizure, interviewing, testifying, and ethics, as well as updates on new state and federal laws. Through this training and in-service experience, patrol officers have the expertise and tools necessary to provide the highest quality of service to our community. Additionally, civilian Police Service Aides and Community Service Aides assist the Community both as the first point of contact for the public who come to the police station for a wide variety of reasons, and out in the community by responding to “cold” calls for service. These “cold” cases involve circumstances where there is little or no suspect information or active leads to pursue. 
This allows officers to respond to emergent calls and conduct proactive policing, all the while still providing the community quick, efficient service. Community Service Aides are assigned to staff the front desk of the police station, and provide support to other units within the department. They are responsible for the completion of minor police reports filed at the police station or over the phone, process the release of vehicles that have been stored, impounded, or recovered, and inspect vehicles to insure equipment violations have been corrected. One of the major duties of the Community Service Aide is to fingerprint citizens for employment and licensing applications or persons required by court to register with the police department. Police Service Aides provide assistance in the Community by filing “cold” case reports on scene, patrolling the City for minor vehicle and parking violations, and can assist with traffic control if needed. They are also crossed trained to assist at the front counter of the Police Department.