Crisis Negotiation Unit

The Frankfort Police Department’s Negotiation Unit was formed in 1997 to handle high risk situations where a hostage has been taken or other types of incidents for which negotiations are warranted, such as mentally ill or barricaded, suicidal persons. The primary function and objective whenever the team is deployed is for a peaceful resolution of the situation. The Crisis Negotiation Unit is in the Division of Support Services and is under the direct command of Captain Jeff Rogers, lifetime member of the International Association of Hostage Negotiators (IAHN). The unit members are Officer David Dearborn, Detective Michael Johnson, and Detective Joseph Banta. The Negotiation Unit has received extensive training in the process of negotiations from the Institute of Police Training and Management (IPTM) in Jacksonville, Florida. Additional training has been obtained through the Department of Criminal Justice Training (DOCJT), the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), Counter Force Tactical Training, and the annual Negotiators Conference conducted by the National Tactical Officers Association. In addition, monthly training is conducted using varying techniques and equipment as well as periodic training with the Tactical Response Unit (TRU).

Evidence and Property

The Frankfort Police Department has a sworn officer, who is the Department Evidence and Property Custodian. It is his responsibility to maintain safely and securely any property coming into the possession of a Frankfort Police Officer. This includes lost and found as well as evidence used in criminal court cases.

Records Section

The Departments Central Records is a unit within the Division of Support Services. The Support Service Division Commander is accountable for the department's records function. Central Record's receive, process, store , and maintain police records and prepares whatever reports and summaries deemed necessary by the police administration. Central Records files and stores the following reports:

1. incident reports
2. accident reports
3. citations
4. parking tickets.

All reports are maintained within Central Records' paper files. All records and reports produced and maintained by the department are subject to the provision of KRS 61.870 through 61.884 and corresponding federal regulations. Records may be retrieved through computer query.

Lost and Found

Please contact Sergeant Roy Rivers at (502) 875-8523.

Operations Division

The Operations Division of the Frankfort Police Department is made up of 37 uniformed officers, 3 uniform sergeants or field supervisors, three uniformed lieutenants or assistant shift commanders, 3 uniformed captains or shift commanders, and one major or division commander. These officers are divided among three work assignments called "shifts". The first shift operates between 6:45 AM and 2:45 PM. The second shift operates on a 4 day, 10 hour plan between 2:00 PM and 12:00 midnight. The third shift operates between 11:00 PM and 7:00 AM. Typically, calls for service and activity for the patrol division are heavy during the hours of the overlap so these officers are assigned to supplement the second and third watches and shifts are able to conduct short training sessions in a roll call setting.

There are several specialized assignments within the patrol division. Some of the specialized assignments are: TRU or Tactical Response Unit, a group of highly trained officers who are called upon to respond to incidents of a higher than normal risk factor or that will consume more time than a typical call for service; bicycle patrol officers, who utilize mountain bikes to patrol their specific area; accident investigators or reconstructionists, who investigate causes and events related to serious motor vehicle accidents, and canine officers, who perform regular patrol duties in addition to special services afforded by the canine's abilities. Lastly, field training officers (FTO) are responsible for a thirteen-week training program that the newly hired officers begin after attending the 640-hour law enforcement academy.

The patrol division is that part of the police department that people are most familiar with. These are the men and women who, dressed in the familiar uniforms of the Frankfort Police Department, are seen driving the marked police cars, answering the first calls for assistance from citizens, and representing the City of Frankfort.

The men and women of the Operations Division seek to deliver the best service possible by achieving the following goals that are considered acceptable for police service:

DETERRENCE AND PREVENTION:

Deterrence involves activities that are intended to influence the perceptions of potential criminals as to the likelihood of apprehension. Prevention is aimed at making criminal activity more difficult regardless of the perceived odds of apprehension. It is generally assumed that the conspicuous use of patrol units projects an image of police preparedness, efficiency, and omnipresence that discourages would-be criminals. Higher levels of patrol visibility bring about higher levels of deterrence.

APPREHENSION: When deterrence fails to prevent crime, patrol is responsible for apprehending the offender. Quick and efficient performance of the task is generally assumed to contribute to improved levels of deterrence.

NON-CRIMINAL RELATED SERVICES: Performance of these type services (sick-injury calls, rescue services, reporting repairs of public property and utilities, taking reports for insurance purposes only, etc.) is another patrol function. The tendency of the public to call the police when unable to think of where else to turn and the fact that the police are often the only available source of help is the primary reason that these types of services are provided by police departments.

SENSE OF COMMUNITY SECURITY AND SATISFACTION: It is normally acknowledged that effective attainment of deterrence, apprehension and non-crime related service activity should result in high levels of perceived community security and satisfaction with police activities.

RECOVERY OF STOLEN PROPERTY: The recovery of stolen property loses much of its significance unless the items can be returned promptly to the owner. Citizens need to use crime prevention services to learn how to make their property easier to recover in the event that it is stolen.

PATROL

MOBILE PATROLS: The purpose of mobile patrol is to maximize police visibility within an assigned district, thereby providing a deterrent to criminal activity.

FOOT PATROLS: The purpose of foot patrol is to increase officer visibility, thereby increasing the deterrent effect of patrol. Increased visibility in offices and living areas not only provides a sense of security for the occupants and residents, but also provides a high level of officer-citizen contact, which results in satisfaction with police. Foot patrols also maximize an officer's knowledge about particular areas and when coordinated with vehicular patrol in a given district, it provides the most comprehensive and effective coverage of an area.

BIKE PATROLS: The purpose of the Bike Patrol is to maximize police visibility and mobility within a given area. The utilization of bikes by police officers increases visibility in assigned areas and provides a higher level of officer community contact that results in increased citizen security satisfaction. Bikes maximize the area that can be covered effectively. Bikes provide another means of comprehensive and effective area coverage.

In some operations targeting crime and criminals within our jurisdiction, there is a need for a highly trained team with capabilities beyond those of the street patrol officer. The Tactical Response Unit (TRU) is comprised of officers and command from the Department who have undergone intense selection and training to handle a variety of special situations. These may include high-risk containment, control and neutralization operations against hostage takers, barricaded subjects, drug dealers and other situations in which the adversary is more highly armed and dangerous than the typical suspect encountered by the patrol officer.

Contrary to the perception created by the media, the TRU's primary responsibility is the protection of both fellow officers and innocent persons who have been involved in extraordinary circumstances.

CANINE UNIT

The Canine Unit is composed of a Lieutenant and two officers. Officer Michael Frazee and K-9 Marco have been working together since 2001. Officer Derrick Napier and K-9 Ronnie have been serving the community together since 2005. The unit is supervised by former handler Rober Warfel. The Canine Unit responds to calls from other units within the department on a 24 hour basis and assists agencies outside Frankfort upon request.

Function

The Canine Unit currently handles canines capable of patrol and narcotics detection. They are trained to locate marijuana, powdered cocaine, crack cocaine, methamphetamines, and heroin. The canines are utilized to track, search buildings, search for articles and apprehend criminals by biting when the situation is serious enough and no other means of apprehending the suspect are available.

Tracking

Tracking uses the dog's keen sense of smell to detect and follow human scent. The canine teams have been deployed to track not only criminals who have fled the scene  but also missing elderly individuals and lost children.

Building Searches

Searches of commercial businesses are conducted by a canine team. Using the dog's sense of smell and speed is a more tactically sound method of locating a suspect or suspects who are hiding inside a building. This practice minimizes the risk to officers and affords a suspect more incentive to surrender. The sound of a bark is often times all it takes.

Article Searches

Article searches are conducted when a person has either lost or thrown an item while committing a crime. Using the dog's olfactory abilities, the canine is given an area to search and within a matter of moments the canine can locate the item even in a large area. Often it is more effective to deploy a canine in an area where there is poor lighting, heavy brush, or an area is too large to be searched visually.

Criminal Apprehension

Criminal apprehension is used when an individual that is involved in committing a serious criminal act and is in process of actively resisting arrest; poses a threat to police officers or other persons if not immediately stopped, and cannot betopped by any other lesser means. When a police canine is deployed for criminal apprehension, the dog is sent to bite and hold the individual until such time as they can be taken into custody.

Demonstrations

The Frankfort Police Canine Unit is active in the community not only by attempting to make the community a safer place, but also in the area of public demonstrations. The canine unit provides demonstrations year round, to school groups, both public and private, as well as civic organizations. During these demonstrations, narcotics searches are conducted as well as basic obedience exercises; article searches, agility tests, and simulated criminal apprehension, where our bad guy, wearing protective gear is stopped by the canine.

Training/Certification

All canine teams are trained in the areas described before and are tested regularly by the handlers. The canines are certified annually in patrol functions and narcotics detection. The certifying body for the unit is the United States Police Canine Association. This national organization is involved in the certification process for canine units all over the United States. In June of 2006 the Canine Unit proudly hosted the USPCA regional detector dog certifications held in Frankfort Kentucky.

EXPLORER POST 2-911

Law Enforcement Exploring is a great way to learn about life, responsibility, and work ethic. If you are a college bound student then Exploring is for you! Universities expect to see positive extra curricular activities and look for involvement with the community. Exploring gives you the chance to earn community service hours. Exploring gives you an excellent opportunity to see what being a police officer is all about. If you are interested in S.W.A.T, detective work, patrol, bike unit, Vice/Narcotics, or organized crime, our post is the place to be! Explorers get the opportunity to be instructed by these officers, detectives, and swat team members to see what it is really like. Not only is exploring a great learning experience but it's fun too! You get to make new friends and meet new people.

The Frankfort Law Enforcement Explorer post is jointly sponsored by the Frankfort Police Department and the Kentucky State University Police Department.

TACTICAL RESPONSE UNIT

The Tactical Response Unit was established in 1995 to address concerns for responding to high-risks calls for service. This unit is used for barricaded persons, hostage situations, narcotic and high-risk warrants, dignitary protection, mentally ill persons, civil disturbance, or other unusual circumstances. There are currently eight (8) officers and one (1) supervisor all of which serve in the Patrol Division. Although considered an auxiliary function to regular patrol duties, officers maintain equipment in their patrol vehicles and do respond to calls both on and off-duty.

Each Officer is issued safety and specialty equipment that includes Protech tactical ballistic vest, helmet, Kenwood portable radio with New Eagle headset, pager, gasmask, and a variety of BDU's and foul weather gear. Officers use the department issued Smith and Wesson .40 caliber pistol as a backup to the H&K MP5/40 or UMP/40 sub-machine gun. Other weapons available include Remington 870 and 1187 12-gauge shotguns, Colt AR15 and M16s, and the Remington 700 .308 caliber rifle.

The team has a wide variety of Defense Technology chemical agents and less-lethal products. Hand launched and 37mm projectiles of OC, CS, CN, and smoke are available. Number 25 distraction devices, 12 gauge and 40mm beanbags and rubber balls are also alternatives to using deadly force.

The team often works with the Narcotics and Detectives Division in the service of warrants. It also works closely with the Negotiations Unit during barricaded or mentally ill person calls. The unit averages 8-10 warrant assists and 2-3 barricade situations a year. Officers also assist individually or in smaller groups to many patrol incidents. Mutual aid cooperation has involved the unit in assisting other local, State, and Federal agencies.

The team strives to train and perform in a manner that promotes safety for all persons and has resulted in many successful responses to critical incidents.