What We Do

Emergency Response Unit

Our Emergency Response Unit (ERU) serves our community by safely resolving violent calls using the least amount of force possible.

Their job involves some of the most difficult emergencies such as hostages, armed and violent people, and search warrants where guns might be present.

This team of officers train weekly to be ready for the most violent calls.

When they aren't training or attending an emergency calls, you can see them out on patrol answering other calls for service.

Canine Unit

When officers join the Canine unit they are not only forming a special bond with their new partner, they are welcoming a new member into their family. Our police service dogs stay with their handlers at all times and live with them at their homes. Both the handler and their dog go through a comprehensive training program to prepare them to work on the front line.

After training, we assign the pair to work with our officers on patrol. Canine teams track people who have gone missing or have fled from the scene of a crime. They can also search large areas for evidence. Some of our dogs can also detect guns and drugs and work alongside our Emergency Response Unit at violent calls where the suspect may try to run away.

Road Safety Section

Our Road Safety Section (RSS) Officers are passionate about safe driving.

These officers are highly trained collision reconstructionists. They know the science behind a motor vehicle collision and can figure out exactly how it unfolded. From tire mark analysis to measuring how fast a car was going just by how far an object flew through the air, these officers know the math behind a collision. Their knowledge and experience gets used every time someone is seriously injured or killed in a crash.

When our traffic officers aren't reconstructing collisions, they are out on the front line doing enforcement. Speeding, impaired driving, distracted driving (cell phones) and seat belts are their biggest focus.

If you were to ask a member of the Road Safety Section what the best part of their job is though, their answer every time would be "riding motorcycles". The members of the Traffic Management Unit are the only officers in our Service who get to ride them.

Bike Patrol Unit/Community Foot Patrol Unit

These officers are the throwback to good old-fashioned policing. They patrol the downtown business corridor on bicycle and foot. Being out of a police cruiser has plenty of benefits. They can go places cruisers can not get to like bike paths, parks, or between buildings, and they can engage directly with members of the community. Most importantly, our foot patrol officers know the people in their area and work with all of them to deal with criminal activity downtown. 

These officers form close relationships with stakeholders throughout the downtown. This allows them to proactively target problem areas and respond to community issues quickly and effectively.

Public Order Unit

Our public order unit is a specialized team of police officers who manage crowds during major events. We train them to monitor crowd behaviour and respond if needed to keep people and property safe.

In addition, our public order team operates as an emergency search team. They conduct ground searches for people who have gone missing and may be in danger. These officers are trained to meticulously work through yards, water, ravines and forests to find your loved one.

Community Oriented Response Unit

This team of officers solves problems by utilizing evidence-based strategies and encouraging the community to be part of the solution.  They can regularly be seen working with community partners in tackling community issues within the City of London.  They also proactively target high harm activities impacting our community by working in conjunction with the London Police Service’s Evidence Based Policing Unit to develop and implement initiatives that deter and prevent crime. 

Community Services Unit

The members of our Community Service Unit see you at many events across the community. The Unit is broken up into a number of fields such as:

• Crime Prevention
  
• Crime Stoppers
• School Safety
• Secondary School Resources

These members are responsible for most of the youth programming you see in the city. Your kids know our school safety officers through programs such as Values Influences Peers (VIP), Racing Against Drugs (RAD), and other programs that emphasize the importance of making good choices in their lives. These programs have a positive impact on community safety by reducing crime and illicit drug abuse for decades to follow.

Our crime prevention officers provide the information you need to keep you and your property safe. They provide you with guidance on how to target-harden your property, keep yourself safe, and avoid being scammed. These officers impact community safety by preventing crime in the future.

These officers are the backbone of our crime prevention strategies within the City of London. Their efforts pay off both in the short term and in years to come.

Detectives

We staff our Criminal Investigation Division with a team of detectives that are responsible for investigating different types of crime. From homicide and sex crimes to drugs and guns, our detectives cover every aspect of the criminal world. These highly trained officers take over the larger, more complex investigations to allow the patrol officers to continue to respond to calls for service.

The training required to become a Detective is specific to the area of specialization and includes:

• Auto theft
• Arson
• Break and enter
• Child abuse
• Criminal analysis
• Fraud
• Gangs
• Guns and drugs
• Hate crime
• Homicide
• Organized crime
• Proceeds of crime
• Robbery
• Sexual Assault

Any one of these areas provides officers with an expertise into a certain type of crime that makes our community safer.

Forensic Identification Section

The members of our Forensic Identification Section (FIS) are our real life CSIs. From fingerprint dusting and DNA to bloodstain pattern analysis and photographing crime scenes, our forensic officers are experts in the collection of evidence. These officers put science into action as they solve crimes and help bring criminals to justice.

In addition, our Forensic Identification officers are explosive disposal experts. We call upon them to handle any explosive found in the community. From old WWII grenades to suspicious packages, these officers know just what to do. Once they have safely recovered the explosive device, they also get to blow it up! We also call on them to conduct explosive forced entries into buildings when we know going through the front door is not an option.

Digital Forensic Unit/ Internet Child Exploitation Unit

With the growing use of cell phones and computers today, we created two units to investigate digital crimes and keep you safe online.

Our Digital Forensic Unit looks at all kinds of digital devices. They examine items that our officers believe were used to commit a crime or contain evidence of a crime. If an investigation involves a digital device, you can bet that these highly trained investigators will be involved.

Our Internet Child Exploitation Unit targets people involved in the exploitation of children online. They do this by targeting people who make, share or own child pornography and look for adults who lure children for sex online.