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The Culpeper Police Department is a nationally accredited, full service law enforcement agency composed of forty-two (42) sworn police officers, ten (10) reserve and auxiliary officers, and nine civilian employees. Through joint agreements with Culpeper County Government and the Culpeper County Sheriff's Office, the Department utilizes the services of the E-911 Communications Center for all emergency communications and dispatch services. The Department is a member of the Central Shenandoah Regional Criminal Justice Academy, which provides the Department with police officer recruit training and a majority of the Department's in-service retraining courses. The Department responds to more than thirty thousand (32,221) calls for service annually, a figure that has more than doubled during the past five years and is projected to continue to increase by approximately ten percent (10%) each year through the end of this decade. Serious crime, as measured by the FBI's Uniform Crime report, has trended up slightly during the past three years with "larceny" and "assault and battery" being the most frequently reported serious offenses; issues related to illicit drug use, the abuse of alcohol, and domestic violence are the most frequently reported "Part II" offenses. The Department made more than nineteen hundred (1,973) felony and misdemeanor arrests during FY 2006 and is able to clear nearly seventy percent (70%) of all reported crimes, a rate that is more than double the national average. The Culpeper Police Department utilizes a wide variety of state-of-the-art crime prevention, investigative, and traffic management equipment such as in-car DVD cameras, laser speed detection equipment, computerized parking citations and a sophisticated traffic measurement and analysis system. The Department operates a fleet of police vehicles that includes three motorcycles and a number of specialty vehicles. In FY 2006, the Department implemented an "Assigned Patrol Car" Program and currently has six "marked" patrol vehicles assigned to officers living in the community. The Department issued more than forty-five hundred (4,581) traffic citations during FY 2006, an increase of nearly 18% over FY 2005 and nearly 125% since FY 2001. The Department is also responsible for the enforcement of all Town parking ordinances and issues, on average, more than two thousand parking citations each year. The Department continues to emphasize leadership and problem solving skills and has created an excellent training program in support of these initiatives. Among the agency's staff are two graduates of the F.B.I. National Academy, three graduates of the Virginia Forensics Academy, four graduates of the Police Executive Leadership School (University of Richmond) and five graduates of the Institute for Leadership in Changing Times (Virginia Tech.). The Police Department continues to actively pursue both state and federal grant funding opportunities in support of local initiatives and equipment needs. The Department received nearly $90,000 in grant funding in FY 2006 and nearly $400,000 during the past five years. The Police Department has also been instrumental in assisting other community agencies in obtaining grant funds. In FY 2006, the Police Department participated in the community-wide Gang Issues Working Group and conducted a number of gang related community orientation and education programs. Utilizing grant funding, the Department created an investigative position specifically dedicated to working with state and regional gang violence taskforce members and solving local gang related crimes. The Department has an active crime prevention and community resource officer program and supports a wide variety of community service and educational functions including; TRIAD, Neighborhood Watch, Healthy Culpeper, Certified Child Safety-Seat Inspections, as well as sponsoring the community's Law Enforcement Explorer Scout Program. Culpeper currently has nine active Neighborhood Watch groups. The Department provides staff assistance, logistical support, traffic management, crowd control and security services in support of an ever-increasing number of community festivals and special events. During the past year the Department won statewide recognition for its HEAT (Help Eliminate Auto Theft) and its traffic safety programs. In addition, the Department has been active in Department of Homeland Security initiatives, in helping develop the County's Emergency Operations Plan, and in critical infrastructure protection drills. The Police Department's most immediate need is the replacement of its antiquated and over crowded building. During FY 2006 the Town Council entered into a contract for a space needs study and for facility design services with the firm of Mosley Architects in association with the firm of McClaren Wilson & Lawrie. Their preliminary work indicated that the Department needed a 30,000 square foot building. This was later reduced to 24,000 square feet with a 5,000 square foot support building. To a great extent, much of what needs to be accomplished in the future is contingent upon relocating the Department to a larger facility that is designed to meet the requirements of a modern police organization.