The most visible division of the police department is patrol. Patrol officers respond to 911 calls for service, take reports, make traffic stops and proactively patrol the city. Patrol officers work 12-hour rotating shifts.

The New Hope Police Department K-9 Unit is part of the patrol division. There is currently one K-9 officer assigned to patrol. K-9 officers and their partners go through a vigorous training program that prepares them for police work. Initially, the dogs receive training in obedience, article searches, tracking, agility and criminal apprehension. They will also receive training in narcotic detection. The K-9s will continue training throughout the year where they will have to meet their annual goal of achieving certification (PD-1) and narcotic detection.

Educating the public is important to the K-9 unit. Officers within the unit conduct public demonstrations at various events throughout the year when requested. Please contact Sgt. Pete Stanley at [email protected] with any questions or to submit a request for a demonstration.

K9 Drago
K-9 Drago joined the New Hope Police Department in 2021, working alongside K-9 Officer Robles. Officer Robles has been a K-9 officer since 2013. Drago is a Belgian Malinois and is both Patrol and Narcotic Detection Certified by the U.S.P.C.A. 

The Traffic Unit is responsible for increased traffic contacts, investigating traffic related complaints, enforcing commercial vehicle laws and drug interdiction. The goal is to educate the public and reduce the number of crashes in New Hope. The high visibility of enforcement has proven to be the most effective method in reducing property damage, injuries and death from traffic-related crashes.

The New Hope Police Department has full-time and part-time community service officers (CSO). Community Service Officers are uniformed civilian employees who handle tasks and calls for service that don't necessarily need a sworn officer to handle them. 

Community Service Officers support patrol officers by assisting in traffic direction, issuing parking citations, handling animal control calls, equipment maintenance, bookings and transports. 

The New Hope Police Department is part of the West Metro SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) Team, consisting of officers from New Hope, Crystal and Robbinsdale. Under a central command system, 15 operators, four crisis negotiators and one medic are trained to respond to higher risk incidents within the cities. These higher risk incidents may include high risk warrant service, barricaded subjects, public unrest or any other incident deemed too risky for patrol officers to handle. 

Team members are on-call 24/7. Officers are selected for the team basked on exceptional work performance and competency. They also pass a rigorous fitness test. 

Members of the West Metro SWAT Team train together a minimum of one full day per month, and at least one multi-day training session at Camp Ripley a year to maintain a high level of proficiency. In 2017, the team logged more than 150 hours of specialized training. 

In 2019 the New Hope Police Department acquired a Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Vehicle. The MRAP will be used by the West Metro SWAT Team. For more information see the link below.

• New Hope PD Acquires MRAP Vehicle City News Article

For more information on animal control see the link below.

• New Hope Animal Control 

For more information about the reserve unit or Explorer Post see the link below.

• Police Volunteer Opportunities