The mission of the Traffic Safety Section is to help ensure and promote the safe travel of all community members throughout the City.  The Traffic Safety Section (TSS) is comprised of officers whose primary focus is traffic enforcement, education, crash investigation, escorts, and responding to major traffic emergencies.  This section is also responsible for the implementation of the Traffic Safety Plan; which is the guiding document for the City of Alexandria's Vision Zero Action Plan. 

The mission of the Criminal Investigations Division (CID) is to investigate and resolve complex criminal incidents through professional partnerships, technology, and well-trained staff. The Criminal Investigation Section’s primary responsibility is to conduct the follow-up investigations of crimes that occur within the City, including homicides, felony sex offenses, commercial robberies,  financial crimes, computer crimes, domestic violence, stalking, child welfare, other serious investigations requiring intensive specialized or confidential investigation.

The Resiliency and Peer Support Team (RPST) consists of a group of trained Department members who provides anonymous and confidential peer support to fellow employees who may be experiencing psychological discomfort as a result of their involvement in a critical incident and/or any personal or job-related event outside the realm of their coping mechanism.

The K-9 Unit is an integral part of Field Operations Bureau (FOB) and work side-by-side with Patrol Officers, Community Policing Officers and the Traffic Safety Section to provide services to the community 24/7 and 365 days a year. The ability of dogs to smell things that people cannot make them a valuable police tool and provide the ability to find suspects in hiding, track suspects who have fled on foot, and recover evidence. They are also used to find hidden narcotics and explosives.

The Hostage Negotiations Team (HNT) is  staffed by personnel from other organizational entities. Membership is determined through a competitive vetting process. When deployed, HNT’s mission is to establish and maintain communication with person(s) involved in a hostage/barricade situation with the goal of bringing the situation to a peaceful conclusion.

The Alexandria Police Department is committed to the safety and well being of all city school children. In 1997 the School Resource Unit (SRU) was created and supported by a strong partnership in conjunction with the Alexandria City Public School (ACPS), City Manger's Office, City Council and the Alexandria Police Department.

The mission of the Special Operations Team (SOT) is to provide highly trained tactical response to peacefully resolve critical incidents and safely secure people, vehicles, and locations for the service of search and arrest warrants.  The SOT is comprised of personnel from throughout the Police Department who are committed to training and critical incident preparation.  SOT works in conjunction with HNT and TSU to accomplish its objectives.

The Crime Prevention Unit coordinates the Department’s efforts to minimize crime through environmental planning and design (CPTED), community relations functions, and works to reduce or eliminate crime opportunities through citizen involvement in crime resistance.  The Crime Prevention Unit also coordinates the Neighborhood Watch, Business Watch, and the National Night Out programs.

Community policing is a philosophy that promotes organizational strategies that support the systematic use of partnerships and problem-solving techniques to proactively address the immediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues such as crime, social disorder, and fear of crime. The Community Oriented Policing Section (COPS) assigns sworn police officers to specific neighborhoods. The COPS Officers actively build positive relationships with the residents of their neighborhood.

The Crime Scene Investigator supports patrol officers, detectives and other law enforcement investigative teams by documenting and processing evidence. Their efforts include documenting crime scenes, as well as collecting, preserving and processing evidence.

The Vice & Narcotics Section is responsible for conducting investigations designed to target and deter middle and upper-level drug and vice operations within the City. Several members have cross-jurisdictional authority to combat drug and vice operations at a federal level. Drug operations consist of covert surveillance, Intelligence gathering, use of informants, and the preparation and execution of search warrants. Prescription fraud investigations are also conducted by this Unit.

The Electronic Investigations Unit focuses on the collection and analysis of digital evidence to assist police officers and detectives within the department.

The Special Investigations Unit is a 21st Century model of policing that is designed to focus on the apprehension of violent criminals and fugitives through investigative tactics, to include covert surveillance.  The investigators write and conduct search warrants, provide tactical support to other investigative units and perform other duties when assigned.

The Honor Guard Unit is made up of a select group of officers within the department who represent the agency at special events, in addition to performing at drill and ceremonial duties.

Bike Patrol helps us quickly respond to law enforcement and emergency medical needs. An officer on a bike is able to navigate through congested and crowded areas more easily than a car and faster than an officer on foot. Officers can arrive more quickly and secure the scene.

The Alexandria Police Technical Services Unit is a support unit for the Special Operations Team.  In the Technical Services Unit, we utilize different robots for search and surveillance operations during hostage/barricade situations or high-risk warrants. We also have several different camera systems we can use to assist with the search of a location for any victims or suspects in hiding.

Instructors assigned to the Police Academy teach, instruct, and coach newly hired officers in basic police training, to include search and siezure laws, defensive tactics, firearms, emergency vehicle operations, and much more.

The Tactical Training & Response Unit (TTRU) is responsible for providing training to all sworn officers in police tactics and survival skills. TTRU is responsible for managing the Department’s Taser program and Defensive Tactics Team. Members serve as a rapid response force in support of Vice/Narcotics missions, Criminal Apprehension Unit, and other short/no-notice tactical assignments as needed.

The Alexandria Police Department owns its own shooting range. With the use of highly qualified range staff, we equip our officers with firearms that will help protect the community and the officers. Our range instructors provide instruction on the the appropriate handling and use of firearms to protect the safety of officers in the wearing, handling, maintenance and cleaning of firearms. They also train on deadly force, escalation/de-escalation, decision making and modern police tactics.