NBPD Resources

The Administrative Services Division handles the payroll for the Department’s over 300 members. All accounts payables fall under the umbrella of Administrative Services and also work with the Cities Purchasing Department.

They are accountable for processing any expenses incurred by the Police Department as far as medical expenses, department equipment, utilities, training expenses, office supplies and the disbursement of any grant money.

Another primary function of the head of Administrative Services is to oversee facilities management of all buildings occupied by the police department. This includes ensuring that the inside as well as the outside of the buildings is maintained for both safety and cleanliness.

Animal Control: 508-991-6366

The New Bedford Animal Control Office is a division within the New Bedford Police Department. The Animal Control Division always strives to follow a strict code of ethics while performing our duties.

These duties include investigating cases involving animal bites, abused or neglected animals, dogs running at large, sick or injured animals, and barking dogs.

The mission of the Animal Control Division is to enforce all federal, state, and municipal code associated with the proper care of animals, which are designed to protect both the animals of our community as well as our citizens.

The New Bedford Police Department’s Communications Division is the central hub for all of the New Bedford Police Department’s activities.

The staff of the Communications Division handles all of the police department’s call dispatching duties, as well as the dispatching duties for the Animal Control Office and Emergency Medical Services Division.

The Communications Division also receive all of the city’s 9-1-1 emergency calls, business line calls, and act as the police department’s switchboard.

The mission of the New Bedford Police Department’s Communications Division is to provide the highest level of care and service to the citizens of New Bedford while ensuring the safety of its police officers and staff.

The Central Records Bureau or CRB handles all requests for police reports, CORI checks, trespass notices, stolen autos, missing persons and many others.

They maintain a database of all police reports dating back to 1961.

The CRB staff also register and conduct home visits to confirm the addresses of the over 400 Level II and Level III Sex Offenders registered in the city.

They are responsible for the handling of all subpoenas, restraining orders, and harassment orders.

The detectives assigned to the Criminal Investigative Division conduct follow up investigations on cases initiated through the Patrol Division for those types and categories of crimes commonly referred to as Major Crimes.

These crimes include:

• robbery
• homicide
• felonious assault
• burglary
• forgery
• larceny
• fraud
• embezzlement.

The Family Services division consists of the Juvenile, Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Missing Person sections.

Detectives from this unit investigate cases of sexual assault on both juveniles and adults, cases involving child abuse and exploitation, crimes in which juveniles are the primary suspect and cases that involve missing adults and juveniles.

While detectives primarily investigate crimes related to domestic abuse, civilian advocates assist victims with obtaining domestic abuse protection and harassment orders and provide support to the victims throughout their case.

The Firearms Bureau is responsible for the issuance of all firearms licenses and related permits. In addition, the Firearms Bureau handles the cataloging of all firearms evidence, assists in coordinating the testing of firearms evidence and investigates both firearms license applications as well as any violations committed by firearms license holders.

Detectives assigned to the Firearms Bureau also assist with annual firearms training for all New Bedford police officers as well as supporting the training and deployment needs of the Department’s Tactical Patrol Force (TPF) and Special Reaction Team (SRT).

The Identification Bureau conducts follow up investigations on various types of crimes.

Principally these follow up crime scene investigations consist of crime scene photography, fingerprinting and the collection of evidence from sources including gunshot residue, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) collection from various sources and other types of crime scene evidence involved in criminal investigations.

The Management Information System or MIS division handles all computer, radio, video and audio equipment for the New Bedford Police Department. They maintain the day to day operations of over 150 desktop computers, over 50 mobile computers, numerous servers, and more than 300 portable radios.

The MIS Division builds and repairs all these systems in house. They are also responsible for the maintenance of the E-911 system.

The New Bedford Police Organized Crime Intelligence Bureau (O.C.I.B.) primarily investigates cases involving narcotics activity throughout New Bedford. The detectives assigned to this unit are responsible for the identification, suppression, and control of illegal street level narcotics activities as well as the suppression of prostitution related activity.

Investigations in this unit target the individual supplier or group of suppliers responsible for providing narcotics to the street level narcotics dealer. The O.C.I.B. unit works closely with federal agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

The Port Security Division was instituted in 2006 with the mandate of providing security for both the waterfront and the New Bedford Municipal Airport. The waterfront is the largest dollar value fishing seaport in the United States and has over 500 vessels that make this port their home.

Members are cross certified as United States Customs Officers and work closely with other federal and state agencies, particularly the United States Coast Guard, but also ICE, ATF, DEA, and the DA’s office. The team draws from the department’s Underwater Recovery Unit to augment the number of personnel during peak periods of activity and all members are cross-trained in diving, boat handling, and vessel boarding of both commercial and recreational vessels.

The Division of Professional Standards is responsible for investigating complaints of misconduct alleged to have been committed by members of the New Bedford Police Department.

The objective of the Division of Professional Standards is to ensure that community members are provided with an opportunity to voice their legitimate concerns regarding the type and quality of service that the New Bedford Police Department and its employees deliver.

Through this objective, the Division of Professional Standards strives to safeguard the integrity of the police department, as well as to preserve community confidence and support in the complaint review process.

It is through the complaint review process that the New Bedford Police Department obtains the ability to acquire valuable feedback from the community, to ensure that department policies and procedures, which control the manner and delivery of police services, are both efficient and effective.

The Office of Public Affairs is led by a Public Information Officer and supported by a Director of Communications. Together they are responsible for media relations, community service functions, open records requests, commendations and awards, video production and the department’s web-site and social media presence.

• West End (HQ) : (508) 991-6300
• Downtown (Station 1) : 508-991-6340
• South End (Station 2) : 508-991-6355
• North End (Station 3) : 508-991-6360

The city of New Bedford Police Department is broken into three police divisions and a headquarters police station. The Headquarters Police Station houses the Central Records Bureau and many other divisions. Station 1 which is located in downtown handles all patrol issues for the center portion of the city. Station 2 located in the south end of the city answers all calls in that section of the city. Station 3 is located in the north end of the city and responds to all calls in the northern section of the city.

The Traffic Division has many responsibilities which include enforcing the traffic laws of the State of Massachusetts, parking regulations and New Bedford City ordinances. Additional duties include responding to citizen-reported traffic complaints, facilitating the safe and efficient movement of vehicular traffic, radar and laser speed detection to reduce the number of traffic accidents, and investigating serious or fatal accidents within the city limits. This division is also responsible for dignitary escorts, funeral escorts, parades, the annual election operations and works in conjunction with the Department of Public Works and Department of Public infrastructure for the snow bans.

The Traffic Division hours are 8 AM to 4 PM Monday thru Friday. If you have a question or concern, please leave a detailed message and someone will return your call as soon as possible.

One of the main functions of the Training Division is handling the recruitment, background investigation and hiring of Police Officers, E911 Dispatchers and Police Cadets. In-house testing and selection for E-911 Dispatchers and Police Cadets are also conducted by this Division.

The Training Division oversees all facets of mandated yearly training for Police Officers, Police Cadets and E911 Dispatchers. This Division maintains training records along with any certifications or qualifications concerning each employee.