The Watertown Police Department takes immeasurable pride in our department and our job protecting lives and property. We provide one of the essential components of superior quality of life here in Watertown.
Our per capita crime rate is very low primarily due to our excellent work developing partnerships within the community. We fully embrace community policing and apply it throughout our daily duties. Through this process, we work closely with other government agencies, private businesses, community members, community groups, media, nonprofits, and service providers. We constantly solve problems by identifying and prioritizing problems, researching them, responding appropriately, and assessing our response. We have fully adopted this philosophy throughout our department.
We currently have nearly seventy employees here at the Watertown Police Department. These employees are not all police officers, though. We also house a regional dispatch center responsible for six counties. We have a volunteer reserve officer program, which has five officers. We also have numerous civilian employees essential to the department's day-to-day operations.
Throughout our department, you will find us specializing and working in many different areas, such as patrol, investigations, schools, animal control, code enforcement, mental health, and our community engagement division, to name a few. We have innovative programs, deploy advanced technology, and work with the community to address crime. With this, we maintain many different programs, including Camp Chance, D.A.R.E., Alternative Courts, SWAT Team, Traffic Safety, K-9s, Crime Free Multi-Housing, Youth Cadets, Color with a Cop, Accident Investigation, Crime Scene, and Internships are just a couple examples of our programs.
One of our most recent additions is the creation of our first Mental Health Officer. Their goal is to reduce violent crime, reduce arrests of people with mental illness or addictions, and increase the likelihood that individuals will receive ongoing mental health services and treatment. They not only benefit the individuals in need of help but also reduce the time police officers spend responding to mental health calls, freeing them up to focus on other law enforcement priorities. This is accomplished through crisis stabilization, follow-up, and long-term team support.
In addition to the above-listed programs, we always stay busy while responding to calls for service. We stay specifically active in the summertime with an uptick in calls for service as more people are outside enjoying the weather. With that in mind, we always like to remind drivers out there to slow down, watch for pedestrians, use extra caution during bad weather, do not drink and drive, and always follow the rules of the road. For those pedestrians out walking or running, please use sidewalks, cross roadways at crosswalks, watch for cars, and obey signs and signals. A last few summer safety tips are always to report suspicious behavior and keep your belongings secure by locking your doors. Lastly, kids may be home alone this summer, so ensure they are safe and responsible by discussing expectations and safety with them.