Community

The Rapid City Police Department engages in community policing, a values-based approach that plainly holds law enforcement, public order maintenance, and public safety as the responsibility of every good citizen, not just the police. Crime is not just a police problem; it is a community problem.

Sir Robert Peel, the Father of Modern Policing, said it best when he stated that the police are the community and the community is the police. Although policing is and will primarily remain the full-time paid duty of the Rapid City Police Department, it must also be equally recognized that the police are only an extension of the community's inherent responsibility to provide and care for the safety and welfare of its citizens.

The Rapid City Police Department's philosophy therefore considers the citizens of our community as true partners in identifying, prioritizing, and resolving the social and criminal problems that fall within the domain of policing. Every officer will sincerely cooperate and work with the citizens to the best of their ability to develop and maintain a community which has the highest quality life standards. In return, the citizens are asked to do their very best to sincerely cooperate and work with their police department to help fulfill the policing responsibilities within our community. The Department believes that only by developing a true partnership among the police and citizenry will everyone who visits and lives in Rapid City enjoy a safe, secure and wholesome community life.

The Rapid City Police Department pledges to its citizens that our officers will earnestly strive to be the most competent, committed and courteous officers in the world. Our Department affirms within its policing philosophy the ideal doctrine of community commitment. Community commitment means placing the best interests of our community first in every police service decision, allocation and action.

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Rapid City Police Department
300 Kansas City St, Suite 200, Rapid City, SD 57701-2890
Non-Emergency: 605-394-4131   Emergency: 911