About the Anne Arundel County Police Department

The Anne Arundel County Police Department was created by an Act of the Maryland General Assembly in 1937, and was comprised of a Chief of Police, three sergeants, and seventeen patrolmen. Headquartered in Ferndale, with substations located in Galesville, Eastport, and Pasadena, the officers worked 12-hour shifts, six days a week. Equipped with only four patrol cars to cover 416 square miles, they served an estimated population of more than 64,000 people.

During the half-century that followed World War II, the population of Anne Arundel County grew rapidly. As the county population increased, so did the need for police services. Today, the Anne Arundel County has a population of more than a half-million. Between 1990 and 2000, the population grew by more than 62,000 people. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, Anne Arundel County is ranked 114 out of 3,141 counties in the United States.

The Anne Arundel County Police Department evolved to meet the changing needs of their county and today, has more than a 1,000 sworn and civilian members organized into two large Bureaus: Field Operations Bureau and Technical Services Bureau.  In addition to the leaders of those Bureaus answering directly to the chief of police, the law enforcement officials in charge of the Special Services Section and Management and Planning Section also answer directly to the chief of police.

The Field Operations Bureau of the Anne Arundel County Police Department includes the Criminal Investigations Division, Patrol Division and Special Operations Division.  The Patrol Division is organized along geographic lines with four districts (east, west, north and south).  The Special Operations Division includes the K9 unit, aviation resources and Traffic Safety.

The Technical Service Bureau of the Anne Arundel Police Department contains all the support services normally seen in a large police agency such as personnel, training, community relations, etc.

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