Dickinson Police Department (North Dakota)

Organization

There are several divisions within the hierarchy of the Dickinson Police Department. Each division is supervised by a captain.

List of Dickinson Police Chiefs

Patrol

The patrol division provides 24-hour service to the City of Dickinson. Officers are currently on 12-hour shifts and a 28-day rotation.

The fleet consists of 10 marked patrol cars and two unmarked units. Also included are two specialized vehicles used for tactical responses. The city bids for two new patrol cars each budget year in an effort to keep maintenance costs low.

Officers are required to attend an 11-week police academy held in Bismarck, ND. Upon graduation, they are placed on a 12-week Field Training Operations (FTO) program.

Equipment that DPD officers are issued include Glock .40 caliber handguns, pepper spray, Taser X-26 devices, and AR-15 patrol rifles.

The DPD had one of its first officer-involved shootings in July 2008. A Dickinson resident and Vietnam Veteran went to a friend's house with a high-powered rifle and began shooting. As officers responded to a 911 call from the friend, the suspect pointed a rifle at a Dickinson officer. He was then shot by another officer on scene. The suspect survived the shooting and was convicted of burglary, terrorizing, and reckless endangerment in June 2010.

In November 2009, the DPD along with the Stark County Sheriff's Department, responded to a report of three missing college students. A friend of the students came to the LEC to report she had received a frantic phone call from one of the students. The student made mention of water. The line then went dead. Using cellphone-triangulation technology and with the help of the Civil Air Patrol, the DPD was able to narrow a search area of about 13 square miles (34 km²), and later to nearly 100 square feet (9.3 m²). A ground search revealed the location of the missing college students. They had accidentally driven into a stock pond in rural Stark County and could not escape the sinking vehicle. The case of the missing college students made national headline.

Southwest Tactical Team

The Southwest Tactical Team (SWTT) was formed shortly after the events of 9-11. Federal Homeland Security money became available. The DPD utilized the funding to purchase operator entry vests and other related SWAT equipment. Within a few years, the SWTT became a state-certified regional tactical team. This qualifies the team to receive reimbursement if they travel outside of their jurisdiction.

Calls that the SWTT have been deployed to have included armed barricaded subjects, high risk search and/or arrest warrants, dignitary protection, and other related SWAT activities.

In June 2009, the team deployed to Gladstone, ND after four fugitives from Alabama barricaded themselves in a farmstead after robbing a local movie store and a subsequent high-speed chase and shootout with the North Dakota Highway Patrol. All four fugitives were arrested after another shootout at the farmstead. The team was assisted by the West Dakota SWAT Team of Bismarck, ND.

K-9

In late 2005, the Dickinson Police Department began utilizing drug-detection canines as a part of their patrol tactics. The first dog, a black Labrador retriever named "Duke", was donated to the DPD by Becker Canines in Richardton, ND. Since then, two other labs ("Buster" and "Talon") have also been donated by Becker Canines. All three dogs are trained to detect the odor of five commons drugs; marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, and ecstasy.

All three dogs are also trained to track human scent and locate discarded objects, such as a murder weapon or other item.