It is not the role of the Police Division to legislate, to render legal judgments or to punish. Functional Objectives Prevention of Crime Peace in a free society depends on voluntary compliance with the law. The primary responsibility for upholding the law, therefore, lies with all elements of society. Since crime is a social phenomenon, crime prevention is the concern of every person living in society. Society employs full-time professional officers to prevent crime, to deter it, and, when that fails, to apprehend those who violate the law.
Crime is a symptom of ills within society.
The Division is responsible for interacting with the community to generate mutual understanding so that there may be public support for crime prevention. Community involvement is essential to facilitate a free flow of information between the public and the Division to assist in the identification of problem areas and to inform the public of crime statistics and trends. Additionally, knowledge of the community is necessary so that each Division employee may be instilled with a sense of concern for the crime problems and law enforcement needs in his assigned area of responsibility. The prevention of crime remains as a basic obligation of society. While there are certain crimes that cannot be deterred, crimes committed against property and against innocent victims in public places are reduced by police patrol.