Chief Leo Sacco oversees Medford's police force from this headquarters. Among its departments are a drug control unit and computer crimes unit. The department had a $10 million operating budget in 2009.
The Somerville Police Department employs over 140 uniformed members in 10 divisions, which are also supported by the all-volunteer Somerville Auxiliary Police Department. Approximately half of the force serves in the Uniformed Patrol Division, which answers over 45,000 calls for service per year. Currently, Acting Police Chief Michael Cabral leads the department, and in late 2010, incoming Police Chief Thomas Pasquarello will take the helm.
The department is strongly committed to the concept of community policing, which encourages every officer to maintain strong ties to the community. To that end, seven Neighborhood Police Officers are each assigned to one of the city's seven wards, where they patrol, take part in events and stay in close contact with community leaders.
In addition to police headquarters in Union Square, two neighborhood substations also make officers more available to residents. The East Substation is located in East Somerville at 81 Broadway and the West Substation is in Teele Square at 1154 Broadway.
Many nonemergency services are also provided by the department including child seat safety checks, investigation of traffic safety complaints and finger printing.
