Operations Division

Homeless Outreach Program

The Homeless Outreach Program team includes two officers. We work with other government and non-profit agencies to:

• Connect people with housing and other services
• Address quality of life concerns

Learn more about how we’re addressing homelessness.

K-9 Unit

The Walnut Creek Police K-9 Unit helps de-escalate situations, locate missing people, and find evidence of crimes. We also support the Central County SWAT team.

Learn more about our K-9 unit and how you can support them.

Traffic and parking

The Traffic team within the Patrol Division includes two motorcycle officers focused on traffic enforcement. Our main priority is to make the streets of Walnut Creek safer.

Police Services Officers

Our Police Services Officers regularly patrol our downtown streets and throughout our residential areas.  Responsibilities include:

• Address parking concerns
• Provide traffic control
• Conduct lost and found property reports
• Deploy radar trailers and decoy vehicles
• Tow vehicles
• Recover stolen vehicles
• Perform crime scene investigations
• Track and remove abandoned vehicles
• Release vehicles

When we are not out in the field, we also staff our Front Counter reception and provide citation signoffs.

Bomb Squad

Our Bomb Squad is the only one in the region and serves more than 1.1 million residents of Contra Costa County. The majority of the calls we respond to are for pipe bombs, homemade explosives, grenades, and suspicious packages. We partner with the Contra Costa County Fire District to use a fire engine.

Drone Team

Our Drone Team has proven to be a great resource for the police department. All members of the team have their Part 107 license from the FAA which certifies them as drone pilots. Drones are used as a de-escalation tool. Officers can quickly obtain a bird’s eye view of situations to help approach safely. The team is an asset in locating suspects committing crimes, searching for missing persons, and documenting crime scenes with aerial photographs.

SWAT and Crisis Negotiations

The Walnut Creek Police Department is part of a multijurisdictional SWAT Team
called the Central County SWAT Team. Together, we safely resolve critical incidents.

The team includes:

• BART Police Department
• Martinez Police Department
• Pleasant Hill Police Department
• San Ramon Police Department
• Walnut Creek Police Department

Central County SWAT Members are specifically trained and equipped to work as a coordinated team to resolve critical incidents that are hazardous, complex or unusual, such as:

• Hostage taking
• Barricaded suspects
• Snipers
• Terrorist acts
• High risk warrants

All Central County SWAT Team members serve on the team in addition to their regular assignments. We are on call 24 hours a day, seven days per week ready to respond to pre-planned operations and emergencies.