Police Division
Updated 1-23-24
Thank you for the time to review the Norfolk Police Web page. Norfolk is a great community, and you will find the staff of the Norfolk Police Division to be very dedicated to their responsibilities, and to the entire Norfolk Community. We, along with our brothers and sisters at the Norfolk Fire Division, combine our efforts as the Norfolk Department of Public Safety.
The Police Division is allocated 41 sworn officers and covers a multitude of responsibilities and specialty areas. Our sworn staff allocation consists of the following:
Administration consists of one Chief and two Captains. The Operations Captain is responsible for all enforcement functions to include patrol, investigations, School Resource Officers, K-9, Tactical Team, Accident team, and Community Services Officer. The Support Services Captain is responsible for dispatch, evidence, records management, training, building and fleet maintenance, initial budget preparation, and purchases.
Our patrol staff is divided into 4 shifts each comprised of one Lieutenant, one Sergeant and 4-5 patrol officers. They work 12-hour shifts from 6-6, and rotate days to nights or vice versa every 4 months. The officers bid for their rotation the end of each year. This work cycle allows for 6 hours of in-service training every 28 days.
We have a dedicated investigations unit that consists of one Sergeant and 5 detectives. They assist patrol with major investigations. One investigator is assigned to a state drug task force, and another is associated with the Nebraska Human Trafficking Task Force. Others specialize in child abuse/ neglect investigations and digital media investigations.
Our two School Resource Officers (SRO) maintain an office at Norfolk High School and Norfolk Junior High with plans to add a third to the Norfolk Middle School. They work closely with school administration, teachers, students, and patrol officers to address the needs of school age students. Their efforts are focused on building relationships with the students and parents, to identify the needs of the student and make proper referrals. In most situations, enforcement action is not necessary.
Many patrol officers have the additional responsibilities of specialty teams, in addition to their day-to-day patrol duties.
The Norfolk Police and Madison County Sheriff have a joint full service Tactical Response Unit, staffed by sworn officers from both agencies. They serve all of Madison County and are trained to address hostage situations, barricaded subjects, high-risk warrants, crowd control and several other specialty areas.
The Accident Investigation Specialization Team has advanced training and equipment for major accident investigation and reconstruction. Their skills and equipment are also used to complete scale diagrams of complex crime scenes and available to other agencies.
The Honor Guard is used to demonstrate the pride we have in our community and country during parades, funerals, and other special events.
The K-9 Unit currently consists of one specially trained K-9 and his handler. The K-9/ handler team is trained and certified in drug detection, tracking, evidence recovery, suspect apprehension and handler protection. The specialty services of our K-9, and other police resources, are available to other area law enforcement agencies as needed.
The Drone Team is specially trained in the use of UAVs to locate missing persons and suspects, search warrant over-watch, work in conjunction to the Accident Team to map accident and crime scenes, as well as help other city divisions with their arial photograph or mapping needs. Drone use is strictly regulated by the FAA, and we take individual privacy very seriously.
The Norfolk Police Division is also the only Class I city in Nebraska that still maintains a jail facility. We maintain 4 single person cells and work with the Madison County Jail to house anyone beyond 24 hours.
Our civilian staff consists of a joint dispatch center that handles emergency calls and dispatching for 16 various police, fire and rescue agencies in northeast Nebraska, handles weather emergencies, monitors alarm panels and answers day to day calls for all the police, fire and rescue staff in all of Madison and Stanton Counties. It is staffed by 14 dispatchers and two dispatch supervisors.
The clerical staff consists of one administrative assistant who handles payroll, purchasing, budget preparation and many other administrative tasks. Two records staff process all police reports and prepare them for prosecutors, handle walk in traffic that consists of requests for an officer, processing towed vehicle paperwork, UTV and golf cart registration, animal licenses, gun permits among many other clerical functions.
The civilian evidence officer tracks, catalogs and stores all pieces of evidence in and out of the police station.
We have 3 civilian community service officers who answer service requests for animal violations, parking violations, and limited paper service. They assist with traffic control, evidence collection, and other tasks not requiring a sworn officer.
And finally, one janitorial staff who assists with daily cleaning and maintenance functions in and around the building.
It is only through the hard work and dedication of the men and women of the Norfolk Police Division (NPD), who dedicate themselves to protect and serve the people of our community, that Norfolk can receive the designation of the 2nd safest city in Nebraska for 2023 (https://www.safewise.com/blog/safest-cities-nebraska/). This too is only possible by continuing to build relationships through the businesses, neighborhoods, and area law enforcement agencies.
We would like to thank all of Norfolk’s elected officials as well as the citizens of Norfolk for their ongoing support. The Police Division continually works towards reducing crime, building community trust, and supporting a high quality of life for our community.
We welcome your questions or Comments.
Chief Don Miller