Four Sergeants whose duty is to supervise a squad of four patrol officers during one of the four 12 hour "on duty" watches, report directly to the Commander of Field Operations. The sergeant, among other duties, has the responsibility of scheduling "on duty" hours, recreation time off, training days, beat assignments, communicating and relaying activity information, and insuring compliance with department general orders and city policies. The "on-duty" Sergeant supervises all direct reports and civilian employees working, and assures that goals, objectives, and the mission of this department are being met.

Uniform patrol is responsible for providing the community with the basic police service. The patrol officer is directed to be vigilant in identifying criminal activity, community hazards (such as malfunctioning street lights and traffic control devices), locating carcasses or obstructions in roadways, identifying and reacting to traffic violators, assisting motorists, ordinance violations, recovering stolen property, responding to calls for police, responding to medical emergencies, and other related functions. The patrol unit provides vehicle patrol, bike patrol, and foot patrol functions.

The patrol division is the most visible branch of the Wentzville Police Department and responsible for providing services to approximately 8,500 residents who reside in a 42 square mile area. The division is presently staffed by 19 uniformed officers, 4 platoon sergeants, and one lieutenant. To provide effective police services, each member of the division responds to calls for service, engages in strategic problem solving, and maintains effective patrol strategies to enforce local and state laws. The patrol division also consists of a bicycle patrol, whose 4 selected officers patrol high crime and residential areas.

To be a member of the bicycle patrol each officer must meet certain requirements and successfully complete a 32 hour police mountain bike course offered by the International Police Mountain Bike Association (IPMBA).

Internal Affairs Unit:

The Lieutenant of Support Services staffs the Internal Affairs Unit and reports directly to the Chief of Police. Internal Affairs is an investigations unit used to regulate and review the conduct of employees regarding any alleged violations of personal integrity, civil rights, etc. This unit serves to protect the public from potential abuses of police functions or authority. Misconduct by department personnel must be detected and, as with reported allegations of misconduct, must be thoroughly investigated and properly adjudicated to assure the maintenance of fairness, honesty, and proper conduct. It is the function of Internal Affairs to protect the public from any form of misconduct by any employee, to protect the organization from public censure due to misconduct by one employee, to protect the employees from false allegations of misconduct, to provide for the removal of unfit personnel, and to identify and correct faulty procedures, policies, or tactics.

The department has acquired and maintains a police canine. The canine named Jester is a German shepherd and is assigned to Sgt. James Lloyd. Jester is trained to obey the voice commands of its master, to respond to acts of aggression toward its master, to sniff out illegal drugs, to conduct tracking functions, and to perform searches.

The Traffic Safety Unit is presently staffed by one officer, who reports directly to the Commander of Field Operations. It is the function of this unit to provide a concentrated effort to maintain a safe flow of traffic through and within our jurisdiction. This unit is free to roam throughout the city and to identify areas of traffic hazard, concentrate on areas from which traffic related complaints of our residents are established, to investigate traffic accidents, to establish, identify, and determine causal or contributory factors that contribute to accidents, conduct traffic count surveys for placement of traffic control devices or restrictions, and to provide any other related function or support which serves the department mission.