Administration

The department is headed by the Chief of Police who is directly accountable to the City Administrator. The Chief of Police is the primary administrator for the Hagerstown Police Department. The Chief has the authority to manage and supervise the activities and personnel of the Department, establish objectives and standards for the performance of work, and administer the operations of the Police Department in an efficient manner for the effective providing of services.  


The organizational subdivisions within the personal span of control of the Chief of Police are:
  • Administrative Secretary
  • Special Services Bureau 
  • Operations Bureau 
  • Narcotics Task Force (Board of Directors)
  • Special Response Team (Board of Directors)
  • Public Communications

Mission Statement

The fundamental mission of the Hagerstown Department of Police is to protect life and property, enforce the law in a fair and impartial manner, preserve the peace, order, and safety of the community we serve, safeguard the constitutional guarantees, and provide other police related services as required by the community in a manner consistent with the values of a free society.

In order to fulfill its mission, the Hagerstown Department of Police will strive to identify, pursue, and apprehend offenders, maintain a pro-active patrol attitude in order to reduce the opportunity to commit crime, interact with the citizenry to resolve problems and improve the quality of community life, regulate noncriminal conduct, maintain order, provide miscellaneous police services on a twenty four hour a day basis, and to insure the safe and expeditious movement of vehicular traffic on public roadways. Although a society free from crime and disorder remains an unachievable task, it is the responsibility of the Hagerstown Department of Police to approach that idea as closely as possible by having its members develop a reputation for fairness, civility, and integrity that wins the respect of all citizens.

In order to respond in a professional manner to the challenges set forth in our mission, the Hagerstown Department of Police will create and maintain a quality work and managerial environment that focuses on agency goals and provides for career development for its personnel through training, advancement, and reward for exemplary performance.