The six patrol districts are further subdivided into beats, which are served by individual officers. This allows officers to become familiar with specific areas, make contacts, and better engage in community-level policing.

 

In addition to regular patrol, a number of other functions are organized within the six patrol districts:    

 

The Hospitality Squad: The focus of this squad is to patrol the Hospitality Districts and address public safety and nuisance issues. A key focus of the unit is to work with bar and venue owners to manage noise and security issues.

 

The Transit Squad: This squad patrols the Raleigh Union Station, bus terminals, and transit mall areas, as well as the surrounding blocks and adjacent park, which receive significant spillover traffic. Because these are high-activity locations that include an increased number of calls for service, maintaining security is important in keeping the public transit system as a safe and viable means of transportation.  

 

The FLEX Team: This self-directed squad is responsible for assigning their own priorities and responding to requests from the field operations major, district commanders, and community policing sergeants. The team trains with Special Operations, often coordinating and working with the centralized gang unit on investigative support tasks. Each member of the FLEX team is a bike-certified officer and will often deploy on bikes, if needed. 

 

Community Policing: Community policing squads fulfill a vital role in the department’s community policing strategy, focusing on engagement and community-level problem solving. Officers are assigned as either community policing officers or crime prevention officers, and they are critical in the department’s mission to engage with the community and maintain positive relationships at the neighborhood level.