
The existence or non-existence of a police specialized unit does not determine the mission of a police department.
~ Barry M. Baker Tweet

Detective Lieutenant Barry M. Baker (ret.) is a 32 year veteran of the Baltimore Police Department.

A police specialized unit exists in every police department, and the goal of every new police officer is assignment to a specialized unit. Having goals is fine, but you should understand that every new officer begins his or her police career in patrol. Patrol is the primary function of every police department no matter the size of the department. It doesn’t matter if the department consists of two police officers or two hundred.
In the two member police department, your primary function will always be patrol, but you will also be specialized. You’ll be responsible for all aspects of law enforcement to include activities that would be considered specialized in larger departments. Your small department will have support from larger entities like state police or sheriffs, but you’ll retain your autonomy.
Scenario
Let’s put you in a scenario. You and your police chief are the only police officers in a middle class community of 4,500 residents. Your town experiences crime like any other, but it doesn’t have significant numbers of crimes and criminals. Serious criminal incidents are very rare, and your town has never experienced the commission of a homicide.
Today will be different when you’re directed to a residence to investigate the trouble. The trouble will turn out to be a double homicide requiring the assistance of a police specialized unit. If you were an officer working in the two hundred member department, that police specialized unit would be homicide detectives. In this instance, you and the police chief make up the required police specialized unit. Your chief was hired considering prior police experience, and part of that background was ten years as a homicide detective. In reality, you’ll call in a larger agency with jurisdiction to take charge of the investigation. However, you’ll remain the primary officer, and you’ll gain invaluable experience through your participation.
I used this scenario to illustrate that police work is the same no matter the size of a police department. The only differences are in numbers, and the levels of experience among members of the departments. The existence or non-existence of a police specialized unit does not determine the mission of a police department.
Police Specialized Units Relative to a Police Department’s Size
Police departments come in three sizes: small, medium and large. The Pew Research Center has determined that a large police department consists of 2,400 or more sworn personnel. As for determining whether a police department is small or medium sized, it’s not that simple. Let’s look at three sizes in terms of sworn personnel – 2, 20 and 200. The 2 and 20 are pretty easy, and I think you’d agree that 2 and 20 are small police departments. 200 is a significant number of cops, and a 200 member department will operate similar to a large police department.
Large police departments are broken down into districts or precincts, and guess what the average number of police officers might be for each district? Well, 200 would be a good guess with some more or less depending upon relevant factors. 200 is a good number to start with when determining the number of police specialized units within a department that size.
I would consider 200 to be near the low end of a medium size police department. Beyond 200, the number of police specialized units will increase along with your opportunities to gain a specialized assignment.
Westminster, Colorado Police Department
The number, size and purpose of your department’s police specialized units will be determined by the need, and the department’s ability to field the units. Below are examples of police specialized units:
Police Specialized Unit
Police Specialized Unit
Police Specialized Unit
Police Specialized Unit
Mounted Police
Like a motorcycle cop, a police officer on horseback looks good. The mounted officer projects professionalism for a police department’s public image. As for utility, I know from experience the effect of the mere presence of three mounted officers in a crowd control situation.
Police Specialized Unit

Traffic Accident Investigation
Investigation of fatal and serious injury traffic accidents requires specialized training. Most police officers dislike investigating accidents while some love the challenge.

SWAT - Special Weapons and Tactics
A SWAT team’s primary purpose is to perform high-risk entries where armed resistance could be encountered.
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