About HSPD

Organization

The Hot Springs Police Department is an accredited law enforcement agency that provides professional services to the citizens of Hot Springs 24-hours a day, 365-days a year. The agency’s law enforcement services include patrol, traffic enforcement, criminal and narcotics investigations, community policing, nuisance abatement, animal services, special event oversight, crime prevention and detection, and tactical operations capabilities.

The current staff of the department is comprised of 109 sworn officers, 10 animal service officers, 14 dispatchers, 12 civilian staff, 17 volunteers, three community service assistants, one criminal intelligence specialist, 1 peer recovery specialist and a police chaplain.

All 165 members of the Hot Springs Police Department strive to provide professional, fair, and ethical service to the citizens and visitors of our city.

The Hot Springs Police Department enjoys a great partnership with all facets of our community including our citizens, school districts, businesses and visitors. We are proud of the strong support that we receive from our City Manager, Mayor, and Board of Directors, as well as our fellow city employees.

Department structure

HSPD includes the following divisions which oversee each of the departments critical functions.

• Animal Services
• Field Operations Bureau
• Professional Standards Unit
• Support Operations Bureau

Click here to view the full complement organizational chart of our agency.

Accreditation

The Hot Springs Police Department is the first fully accredited law enforcement agency in the state of Arkansas having achieve the distinction on October 22, 2015.

The Hot Springs Police Department continues with our research and development of policies and procedures to ensure that our practices meet the criteria of more than 125 law enforcement "best practices" established by the accrediting body, the Arkansas Association of Chiefs of Police. These "standards" are related to minimum training, hiring practices, operational issues, policy development, documentation, use of force, K9 operations, SWAT operations, evidence storage, communications and many other functions and elements of the department, all of which must pass the ongoing rigorous scrutiny of the Accreditation Board.

The accreditation process, which the Hot Springs Police Department successfully achieved on October 22, 2015, culminated in the inspection and evaluation of the department's overall operations. Those practices were found to be balanced against the established national and state "best practices" models and qualified our department for the honor of this prestigious endorsement. The accreditation has earned our department one of the rarest distinctions and recognition by leaders in the industry as a meticulously examined and professionally organized police department ranking us among the "Best of the Best" law enforcement agencies in the nation.

Mission Statement

The mission of the Hot Springs Police Department is to enhance the quality of life in our community by ensuring the safety and wellness of all citizens, visitors, and employees. We will conduct ourselves with honesty, integrity, and fairness while holding our staff to the highest professional standards within the law enforcement community.

Commitment Statement

As members of the Hot Springs Police Department, we are committed to:

A. Protecting the constitutional rights of all people

B. Providing professional service to all citizens and visitors

C. Using current technology, modern tactics, and law enforcement best-practices to determine our operational methodology

D. Transparency and accountability to all

We are a team-oriented department that values a community-oriented and problem-oriented policing philosophy. We believe in forming strong partnerships with the community in order to prevent crime and to solve crime that may occur.

These values, philosophies and partnerships are manifested by programs such as National Night Out, Neighborhood Watch, Citizens' Police Academy and Nuisance Abatement Program. Finally, we are an accreditation focused agency, continually raising the bar on our performance and on our level of service in determined pursuit of that honored distinction.