City of Roswell Police Department     
Roswell Police Department
Emergency: Dial 911
128 W. Second
P.O. Box 1994
Roswell, NM 88202
(575) 624-6770
Fax: (575) 624-6780
Email: mailto:RPDEL@trailnet.com

Roswell Safe Community Coalition
505-622-SAFE 


The Roswell Police Department is located in the heart of Roswell, New Mexico a community with a population of approximately 48,000. The department is organized into five divisions, Uniformed Patrol, Criminal Investigations, Special Investigations, Support Services, and Special Services. The five division commanders report to a deputy chief, and all are under the command of Police Chief John Balderston. 

With an authorized strength of 89 sworn, certified, and commissioned officers on the force the Roswell Police Department has full authority to enforce all applicable laws, ordinances, and traffic complaints. The department investigates complaints and criminal activity and works closely with the City Attorney’s and District Attorney’s Offices to ensure effective prosecution. 

The Uniformed Patrol Division: is made up of patrol officers that perform general policing services, a traffic unit that specializes in traffic management, and school resource officers that handle school security, law enforcement related instruction, and work with kids. 

The Criminal Investigations Division: consists of twelve specially trained departmental members who are assigned to investigate property crimes and crimes against persons; a Technical Services Unit that specializes in crime scene analysis and evidence collection. 

The Special Investigations Division: is made up of elements of the Chaves County Narcotics Task Force and the Roswell Police Department’s Violent Crimes Reduction Unit. They are a pro-active policing unit that will identify and target those in the area who are involved in violent crime, drug trafficking, and members of organized gangs. This division also manages the Tactical Team and the Explosives Ordinance Disposal Team. 

The Support Services Division: manages the department’s communications systems, records system, property inventory, public information, recruiting, hiring, and training. 

The Special Services Division: is responsible for ensuring compliance with matters related to Equal Employment Opportunity, Fail Labor Standards, and work place safety. The division also provides management oversight for the CALEA accreditation process.

Neighborhood Watch is one of the most effective and least costly ways to prevent crime and reduce fear. Neighborhood Watch fights the isolation that crime both creates and feeds upon. It forges bonds among area residents, helps reduce burglaries and robberies, and improves relations between police and the communities they serve.

Why Neighborhood Watch

It works! Throughout the country, dramatic decreases in burglary and related offenses are reported by law enforcement agencies.

Today’s transient society produces communities that are`less personal. Many families have two working parents and children involved in many activities that keep them away from home. An empty house in a neighborhood where none of the neighbors know the owner is a prime target for burglary.

Neighbors get to know one another. If you know who belongs in the neighborhood, you also know who doesn’t. You will recognize unauthorized intruders more readily and be more likely to call the police at the slightest sign of suspicious behavior for a friend more so than for a stranger who lives down the block.

Every neighborhood has its own problems, each is unique. Neighborhood Watch gives the residents a vehicle to identify, prioritize and tap into local resources to solve those problems, increasing pride of ownership in the community.

Communication between watch group members is improved, as well as communication between members and the police. Important information about crimes and crime trends that are occurring in the neighborhoods are sent to members to alert them about what they should be looking out for and what could do to keep from becoming a victim of crime.