The Planning and Research Section is responsible for several functions and reports directly to the Office of the Chief of Police. These functions provide administrative, strategic and tactical information essential to the accomplishment of the department’s mission.

The Planning and Research function covers workload studies throughout the department, response time analysis, and the evaluation of new technology and procedures in law enforcement. The department’s Strategic Plan and other future needs are also researched and prepared. The Section additionally functions as a liaison with area law enforcement agencies to coordinate regional planning and in the development of intergovernmental agreements.

The Fiscal Administration function involves the preparation and monitoring of the annual budget and serves as fiscal liaison with other City departments. All departmental purchases are also reviewed. The multi-year Capital Improvement Program is researched and developed under this Section for all future facilities. Forfeiture funds are also coordinated by the section. Grant administration includes the preparation, coordination and maintenance of all federal, state and other grants fall under this Section.

The Crime Analysis function provides weekly, monthly, quarterly, annual, and special studies of traffic accident and enforcement information and criminal activity analysis as requested; provide crime analysis both routinely and as requested by personnel to assist in identifying crime trends, methods, and probabilities. This Section also prepares the coding and classification of Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) for the state and national levels.