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In the early 1960s, nine officers were responsible for police services in the entire City of Arvada during a 24-hour period. Obviously police staffing has evolved along with the face of crime in the City.

Today, on average, 23 officers patrol the streets in a 24-hour period. Along with responding to non-emergency calls such as noise disturbances, civil disputes, and neighborhood disagreements, patrol officers are increasingly being called to dangerous, emergency incidents such as assaults involving weapons and armed robberies, which require a great deal of time and resources in terms of initial response as well as substantial follow-up investigation. In order to optimize staffing on the street to better handle peak calls for service, the Arvada Police Department adopted a team policing schedule. In this model, eight teams comprised of between five and eight officers hit the streets for ten-hour shifts. The key to this structure is the overlap of shifts during times when calls for service are high.

“In this manner we can better utilize our police officers, effectively dispersing them 24 hours of the day, seven days per week,” said Deputy Chief Lynn Johnson, who oversees the Operations Bureau for the Department.

Officers are investigating more complex crimes occurring in the City. The number of auto thefts jumped 300% in the last ten years, and economic crimes (identify theft, fraud, and forgery) have dramatically increased in the past five years.

"What that means for the Arvada Police Department is that the officers and detectives are handling more complex and time-consuming investigations and case preparations," said Chief Ron Sloan.

The considerable time expended on major investigations was clearly demonstrated in the murder investigation of Garry McLaughlin – the high school graduate murdered at his parent’s home in 2003. More than 6,000 pages of information were created during the course of that investigation, which lasted over a year. The significant amount of time a detective spends on a case coupled with the number of cases has been challenging to investigators. However, Arvada police detectives continue to be recognized throughout the State as being tops in their field.

“Although the City ’s crime rate remains relatively low compared to other areas in metropolitan Denver, the face of crime is changing, which is requiring our officers and detectives to not only address incidents that are more serious in nature, but those that take a great deal of time to investigate,” said Chief Sloan.

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