About the Fort Lauderdale
Police Department
The Fort Lauderdale Police
Department serves the City of Fort Lauderdale, which is a diverse city, located in the heart of Broward County. Situated on
the Atlantic Coast between Palm Beach and Miami, Fort Lauderdale encompasses an area of more than 33 square miles, has seven
miles of beach, 165 miles of waterways and 3000 hours of sunshine. With a year round population of approximately 165,000,
Fort Lauderdale is Florida’s seventh most populous city.
On March 27, 1911, Fort Lauderdale
was incorporated as a town with a population of 250. One of the first actions taken by the newly formed town council was the
appointment of Kossie A. Goodbread as the first City Marshall at a salary of $40.00 per month and $1.00 for each arrest.
The Fort Lauderdale Police
Department has over 495 sworn and 240 civilian employees, the Department serves three police districts, which include residents
and visitors of all socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds. The Department is structured into three bureaus: Operations, Investigative
Services, and Support Services. The department provides patrol, canine, mounted, bicycle, marine and many other forms of uniform
services. In addition to other traditional services such as investigations and crime prevention, the Department provides a
variety of special programs designed to encourage our partnership with our community.
The Department handles nearly
200,000 calls for service annually. In 2000, the Fort Lauderdale Police Department investigated over 14,000 Part I Crimes,
issued more than 60,000 traffic citations and made nearly 14,000 arrests.
Source:
ci.ftlaud.fl.us/police/intro
