The Portsmouth Police Department seeks to provide an Equal Employment Opportunity to all people without regard to race, color, sex, religion, age, national origin or disability and to ensure this practice of nondiscrimination is applied to every aspect of its business activities.

Strategic Plan

The Strategic Plan discusses the initiatives, goals, and standards of the Police Department for 2016. The main focus areas of the plan are Professional Standards, Policing, Staffing, Technology, Professional Development, Facilities, and Administration.

Read the Strategic Plan

The Mayor's Blue Ribbon Committee on Operation Efficiencies was reactivated by Mayor Spear in December 2012. This Committee focused on efficiencies between the Police & Fire Departments and was reactivated following the work completed by an Operational Efficiencies Committee that studied the School Department and reported its findings to the City Council in December 2010.

The Portsmouth Police Department currently occupies 38,000 NSF1 (roughly 48,000 GSF2) in the former Portsmouth Regional Hospital building which is located at 3 Junkins Avenue. In 1991, the Department moved from 28 Penhallow Street. The current location is part of a renovated Municipal complex that includes the City Hall. The Police Department occupies portions of the lower three floors of the former hospital, which was designed in 1975.

The Portsmouth Police Department acting in a Community Partnership with the Portsmouth Recreation Department will be sponsoring the Summer Youth Basketball league this year for boys and girls who are currently in grades 5, 6, and 7.  

The Portsmouth Police Department relies on several critical information systems that form the backbone of its Dispatch and Records Management infrastructure.

Two of our detectives are School Resource Officers dedicated to the high school and middle school, where they not only investigate crimes committed by and against children and young adults, but also teach a variety of classes.