Support Services

The Communications Division is an essential link between the public and emergency assistance. Emergency and non-emergency calls for assistance are received through 'Enhanced 911' (E911), police and fire non-emergency phone lines. Hearing-impaired callers are assisted through the TDD phone line.

A Lifeline

The Communications Division is the lifeline of the department. Communications operators are the link between the citizen in need and the responding personnel. Dispatchers relay key information to responding police units, provide pre-arrival medical assistance (via protocol charts), notify local ambulance service providers and fire departments. 

Dispatchers are also able to provide reassurance and understanding to the citizen in need when an emergency occurs. The Communications Division is also relied upon to assist in the safety of on-scene fire and police personnel.

The Forensic Unit is staffed by two civilians. The Unit is on-call 24 hours a day if needed.

Duties

• Courtroom testimony
• Crime scene documentation
• Crime scene response
• Evidence collection
• Evidence processing
• Latent fingerprint comparison

Specialized Training

Personnel has received specialized training in the identification of fingerprints by direct comparison or entry into the local AFIX Tracker database, state automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) database, or federal Universal Latent Workstation (ULW) database which compares the latent fingerprints against millions of individual fingerprints. The Unit also has a working knowledge of DNA collection, blood spatter, firearm ballistics, and photography.

The Abilene Police Department (APD), like most law enforcement agencies, considers the care, custody, and control of property and evidence to be a very high priority in policing.

The Unit

In order to control this process as effectively and efficiently as possible, APD funnels all property and evidence associated with a crime to one central location for processing and storing: the Property and Evidence Unit.

Personnel

The division is staffed by five civilians and falls under the direction of the Records Division. These individuals are responsible for the care, custody, and control of approximately 127,000 pieces of property and evidence.

In the Abilene Police Department, information is gathered by officers throughout the department in the course of crime prevention, intervention, and investigation. In order to make information accessible to others within the department, all information is funneled to one location where it can be processed, stored, and reviewed conveniently. This central hub for information is the Records Division. In all, the Records Division processes and maintains nearly 30,000 cases each year.

Obtain a Police Report

All requests for release of information must be in writing. Release of information is done in accordance with the Texas Public Information for the Freedom of Information Act. Police reports may be obtained at the records window of the Police Department Monday through Friday, 8 am to 6 pm.

Fingerprinting Service

The Records Division provides fingerprinting services. You must be a citizen of Abilene. To request the service, you will need to come to the front desk of the Police Department during normal business hours, Monday - Friday, between 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Cost is $10, payable by check, cash or card. You must provide proof of residency.

The Abilene Police Department Training Division is housed at the Warren Dodson Police Training Complex just North of Abilene. 

Mission

The mission of the Training Division is to recruit and select the best-qualified candidates for the position of Police Officer, to provide meaningful and effective entry-level training, and to provide in-service training and weapons proficiency training to all police personnel.

Personnel

Staffing for the division includes:

• 1 Lieutenant (Who is the Director of Training for the department.)
• 2 Training Officers
• 1 Range Master
• 1 Civilian Office Manager

Components

The Training Division is made up of two components:

The Abilene Police Academy

The Training Division is made up of two components. The Abilene Police Academy is the home of the basic law enforcement academy that serves to supply the Abilene Police Department with its officers. Most departmental in-service training is also conducted at the academy facilities. The academy also serves as the coordinating point for the Abilene Police Department Citizen Police Academy.

Police Firing Range

The second component of the Training Division is the Police Firing Range. The range serves as the training location for all police firearms certification and re-certification, and is used for other specialized firearms and weapons training. The Police Firing Range has an asphalt, 20-lane firing range for handguns and a 10-lane rifle range with target stands at 50 and 100 yards with an auxiliary pistol pad.

Obstacle Course

Also located on the grounds of the training complex is the Abilene Police Department's Obstacle Course. The course was designed and built by our Tactical Unit and is used in continuing training for members of our department as well as officers from around the area. 

In our continuing effort to maintain the excellent relationship between the Abilene Police Department and Dyess Air Force Base, the O-course is used by specialized units from Dyess for training. The course is extremely difficult and physically challenging; it is about 1.3 miles long and currently has 32 different obstacles.