About the Emporia Police Department
located at 310 Budd Street in Emporia.
The Emporia Police Department was formed in 1916. To date, we have had nine police chiefs. We are 1 hour from Richmond and 1 1/2 hours from Norfolk and Virginia Beach. Our facility includes: an enlarged dispatch center with kitchen facilities, an Emergency Operating Center used in the event of a disaster, a spacious meeting room and a modern gym. The officers' areas are equipped with supervisors' offices, a squad room, a criminal processing room, interview rooms, as well as evidence and locker storage. The department has a computerized records system, 911 system and computer-aided dispatch.
All patrol vehicles are equipped with radar units and have in-car video cameras. The department is a member of the Meherrin Drug Task Force, a multi-jurisdictional task force to investigate major drug trafficking in the community, as well as a member of Crater Criminal Justice Academy, a regional law enforcement training facility. Several of the department's officers are certified instructors at this academy.
Community policing is an integral part of our organization with the Citizen Police Academy and crime prevention programs that we sponsor.
The Emporia Police Department is dedicated to providing unsurpassed professional service to the citizens of Emporia.
Mission of the Emporia Police Department
The fundamental mission of the Emporia Police Department is to protect life and property, enforce the law in a fair and impartial manner, preserve the peace, order, and safety of the community we serve, safeguard the constitutional guarantees, and provide other police related services as required by the community in a manner consistent with the values of a free society.
In order to fulfill its mission, the Emporia Police Department will strive to identify, pursue, and apprehend offenders, maintain a proactive patrol attitude in order to reduce the opportunity to commit crime, interact with the citizenry to resolve problems and improve the quality of community life, regulate non-criminal conduct, ensure the safe and expeditious movement of vehicular traffic on public roadways. Although a society free from crime and disorder remains an unachievable task, it is the responsibility of the Emporia Police Department to approach the idea as closely as possible by having its members develop a reputation for fairness, civility, and integrity that earns the respect of all citizens.
In order to respond in a professional manner to the challenges set forth in our mission, the Emporia Police Department will create and maintain a quality work and managerial environment that focuses on agency goals and provides for career development for its personnel through training, advancement, and reward for exemplary performance.
Why Officers Conduct Traffic Stops