Our Units
Becoming a Huntsville Police Officer means having the opportunity to perform a diversity of jobs, advance in a unit that is meaningful to you and experience the reward of an impactful, community-oriented career. From being a part of our SWAT team to making a difference in our school system as a School Resource Officer, your path is determined by one thing and one thing alone – you.
VIDEO SPOTLIGHT: K-9
View special videos on our Investigative, K9 and Patrol Units as well as our School Resource Officers and Sergeants by exploring the unit sections below.
The Anti-Crime Team was created to combat high crime areas of the city. These highly motivated officers perform numerous tasks from saturating high crime areas and locating subjects for Investigators, conducting long and short-term surveillance to assisting the different precincts with special requests. They also serve as the gang intelligence unit for the city.
The Huntsville Police Bike Squad is one of the most utilized units in our department. The team is used to deploy officers into areas that an officer on foot or in a vehicle would simply not be effective. They are regularly used at major events, parades, concerts, sporting events, and gatherings throughout the city. The bike squad allows our department to quickly deploy officers into a range of environments that keep our community and its visitors safe.
The Bomb Squad was organized in 1971 to provide the capability to deal with explosive-related incidents. The bomb squad utilizes state-of-the-art robots and receives training in bomb/explosives identification. The unit utilizes numerous techniques to render hazardous devices safe.
Community Resource Officers handle a variety of issues and act as liaisons between our department and the community. They are tasked with working with Community Watch and Civic Associations to solve a variety of community problems. They organize community events, work to meet our community member’s mental health needs, do code enforcement, and work with homeless advocacy groups.
This specially trained HPD Investigator who is attached as an FBI Task Force Officer does impartial examination of digital evidence of all types for the police department and neighboring agencies. The work is tedious and time consuming and the training is extensive. This investigator extracts deleted data and finds artifacts that help investigators/agents understand the activity that took place on a device (cell phone, computer, navigation, skimmer).
Crime Scene Investigators play a very integral role in law enforcement. They are tasked with the collection and preservation of evidence in order to re-create a crime scene. This allows for the when, where, why and how of a crime to be determined. Ultimately, this may lead to an arrest, and hopefully closure for the victims’ family.
The Crisis Response Negotiation Team (CRNT) responds to a variety of incidents related to hostage situations, barricaded subjects, and many others in which a citizen may find themselves in crisis. They are well-trained individuals who work as a team to bring peaceful ends to potentially volatile events.
The Huntsville Police Communications Division operates within the Huntsville/Madison County 911 Center. The center has a computer-aided dispatch system that helps the department have timely responses to calls. Are you interested in serving your community but not sure if becoming a police officer is right for you? Take a look at our dispatcher position. Dispatchers are vital to our department and work with our officers every day.
HPD has a dedicated D.U.I. Task Force, with highly trained officers that focus on impaired drivers. They enforce traffic and D.U.I. laws through the use of traffic saturation patrols that target state designated hot spots, checkpoints, and other unit traffic enforcement details. HPD is the only agency in the state that has this type of full-time, dedicated unit.
Honor Guard members are utilized in paying last respects to an individual who has served as a law enforcement officer. Members stand guard over the fallen officer during the viewing ceremonies and conduct the flag folding ceremony at funerals to include a bag piper’s song tribute. Our Honor Guard also acts as representatives for our department and are sent to other departments in the area that have officers killed in the line of duty.
Incident Response Team, or IRT, performs a multitude of functions including assisting in disaster relief situations such as tornados and floods. They also assist on a patrol level with perimeter containment and apprehension. IRT has been tasked with honing their shooting skills in various tactical situations. All IRT members have also been trained to deal with large crowd control situations and dispersal. They are trained on officer survival techniques such as tourniquet application and assisting officers who may become injured on scene and getting them to a safe location for further medical treatment. Some of the IRT members are specially trained to deal with subjects who have a preventive apparatus attached to their bodies.
HPD has numerous specialized investigative units that include robbery, burglary, major crimes such as assaults and homicides, theft, fraud, domestic violence, white collar and electronic crimes and sex crimes. These highly trained and experienced investigators interview witnesses, interrogate suspects, submit evidence, procure business records (records of telephone calls, credit card receipts, visitor’s logs, bills of lading, tax returns, etc.) relevant to the investigation, write and execute search warrants, prepare cases for prosecution, and testify in court.
The HPD K-9 Team is one of the longest continuously operating K-9 units in the nation. The officers and their canine partners are responsible for the detection of a number of items including narcotics and explosives. They also locate and apprehend criminal suspects in most any environment and assist our patrol and specialized units in numerous situations. Our K-9 units also help in locating missing children, the mentally ill and the elderly when they go missing.
Our North Alabama Multi-Agency Crime Center (NAMACC) is a multi-jurisdictional team specializing in technology to assist in criminal investigations. The center provides law enforcement agencies with the ability to effectively collaborate by using a wide range of technologies to provide efficient and effective policing. NAMACC has dedicated labs for cellular and video forensics. The center uses cellular forensics, threat assessment, unmanned aerial vehicles, digital imaging and video recovery technologies to help fight crime.
Our patrol division is the heartbeat of our department. Patrol answers a wide variety of calls for service, enforces both traffic and criminal laws, and solves a wide range of problems that our citizens encounter. They are charged with safeguarding lives and property and apprehending criminals. Patrol also investigates crimes and traffic accidents, collects evidence and responds to complex emergency situations.
HPD’s School Resource Officers have a very important job. Providing police services at 37 Huntsville City Schools, these officers work with school administrators, faculty, and staff to ensure the safety and well-being of our students. These officers build personal relationships with students and mentor them throughout their academic school years. They are also our school’s immediate emergency responders and help maintain safety at school athletic events. Additionally, during the summer season, they conduct summer youth camps.
Sergeants are the departments’ first line supervisors. They guide and lead the officers, investigators, or agents under their supervision. Our sergeants direct resources and manage field situations, supervise and monitor the activities of their officers, and answer any questions officers may have. They are also charged with maintaining schedules and providing performance evaluations. They provide training and direct the efforts of officers on a daily basis.
The SWAT Team specializes in high-risk tactical situations. Officers sharpen specialized tactical skills and utilize specialty tools and weapons for serving high-risk warrants, barricaded suspects and hostile situations. In addition, our SWAT team provides numerous dignitaries protection details. Our SWAT Team also provides training for Huntsville Police Officers and outside agencies.
Our Strategic Counterdrug Team or STAC Team is the multi-jurisdictional drug task force headed up by the Huntsville Police Department. These specially trained officers use a variety of methods to confiscate narcotics, narcotic sales assets, and dismantle drug trafficking organizations. These agents work closely with other local drug task forces, the FBI, DEA, ATF, State and Federal Probations, and US Marshals.
The Huntsville Police Department is committed to keeping our roads and citizens safe. HPD has two traffic task forces that work tirelessly to enforce traffic laws and proactively target dangerous roadways that have the highest risk of injury to our citizens. Additionally, these officers handle all traffic-related issues at the many fantastic events that happen in Huntsville.
