Patrol Section

Largest Section in the VHPD

The Vernon Hills Police Department Patrol Section is the largest section of the agency. This core of the department is comprised of four shifts of officers. Each shift consists of a commander and a sergeant, who have the role of shift supervisors.

The patrol section is primarily the first response to emergency and non-emergency incidents.

Calls for Service

During 2022, over 30,000 calls were made to the Vernon Hills Police Department. This includes calls to 911 and everything from responding to parking complaints to the most complex criminal cases. Patrol officers routinely conduct preliminary investigations of crimes, enforce traffic laws, and promote safety in Vernon Hills.

Patrol Shifts

Patrol officers on the Vernon Hills Police Department work 12-hour shifts, either from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., or from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Each shift works as a team, with each member of the team having the same days off. Two teams are assigned to each 12-hour period.

When one team is working, the other is off. Each team works for two or three days and will then be off for the same amount of time while the other team for that time period is on duty.

Additional Shifts

There are also officers assigned to work from 10:00am to 10:00pm and from 2:00pm to 2:00am. These officers supplement the regular teams of officers during the busiest times of the day.

Traffic Stops

Find out what to do if you get pulled over by the police.

Community Service Officers

The Vernon Hills Police department has several full-time Community Service Officers, commonly referred to as CSOs. A CSO is a civilian (non-sworn) Department employee whose work includes responsibility for a variety of quasi law enforcement and general support activities. A CSO's work includes the enforcement of animal and parking violations, as well as the investigation of minor traffic crashes on private property and calls for general public service assistance. A CSO also:

Assists with traffic control duties at the scene of a traffic crash.
Investigates animal complaints including the apprehension and transport of stray or vicious animals. Read about the Vernon Hills animal ordinances.
Assists disabled motorists.
Assists motorists locked out of their vehicles.
Patrols the village, looking for criminal activity, safety hazards and persons needing assistance.

A CSO's work involves considerable public contact, often under difficult circumstances.

Northern Illinois Police Alarm System (NIPAS)

The Vernon Hills Police Department is one of 99 area law enforcement agencies to be a member of this highly valuable organization. Basically, NIPAS allows for the member agencies to assist a community in need by assigning some of its manpower and resources to an affected community as the situation will allow.

NIPAS has three main components: