About the Torrance Police Department
The City of Torrance is located in southwest Los Angeles County in a region
known as the South Bay. The fourth largest municipality in Los Angeles County, the City is bordered on the southwest by one
mile of beach, on the west by the City of Redondo Beach, on the north by the community of Lawndale, on the east by the Cities
of Los Angeles' Harbor Gateway and Gardena, and on the south by the communities of the Palos Verdes Peninsula.
The City is part of the greater suburban Los Angeles area. Prior to 1912, Torrance
was part of a Spanish land grant belonging to the Dominguez family. The land was largely unpopulated, open, dusty plain. By
1912, a real estate developer from Pasadena named Jared Sidney Torrance had purchased 2800 acres to make his vision of a "Modern
Industrial City" a reality. Police services during this period were provided by Los Angeles County in the form of a Constable
stationed in Lomita. During these early years, the City's physical layout followed Jared Sydney Torrance's master plan.
Today, the Torrance Police Department has 240 sworn police officers and 101
civilian support personnel. In addition to the main police station, the Torrance
Police Department operates four Police Community Centers. The Torrance Police
Department is organized into four Bureaus, with a Captain in charge of each bureau, reporting to the Deputy Chief of Police. The four bureaus are: Administrative,
Services, Patrol and Special Operations.
The Patrol Bureau contains the Patrol Division
which is the largest personnel pool in the department. The Patrol Division is
under the command of one captain. Six lieutenants serve as watch commanders. There are twelve field sergeants and 80 officers
in Patrol. Lieutenants, sergeants and officers are assigned to work one of three different shifts, 07,15 or 00 watch. The
City is divided into 6 beats, with each beat patrolled by at least one unit.
Patrol is the largest division within the Police Department, and the Patrol
Officers are the first responders to our community's calls for service; playing a key role in our public service, crime prevention,
crime detection, criminal apprehension, S.W.A.T., C.S.I., K9 and Community-Oriented Policing efforts.
Patrol Officers generally work in full uniform and operate marked black and
white police vehicles. A Patrol Officer's day ranges from handling routine reports to life threatening dangerous situations.
When not answering calls for service, Patrol Officers seek out and proactively suppress criminal activity. They also routinely
participate in such activities as traffic enforcement, community problem-solving activities, assisting citizens in improving
the quality of life in the City and numerous other law enforcement functions
Sources:
torrnet.com/TPD/7107.htm
torrnet.com/TPD/7173.htm
torrnet.com/TPD/Files/PD
_OrgChart2005-06.pdf
torrnet.com/TPD/7169.htm
