The City of Cincinnati Police Department currently employs 1057 sworn law enforcement officers and 281 nonsworn employees. Under the direction of Colonel Thomas H. Streicher, Jr., it provides a full range of police services within a 78.6 square mile area and is the primary law enforcement agency for the City of Cincinnati.

The Police Chief is responsible for the Police Department's operation which is divided among five Bureaus: Administration,  Patrol,  Resource,  Information Management, and Investigations. Since 1990, the Cincinnati Police Department has been committed to and embraced the Community Oriented Policing Philosophy, implementing such programs as: CAD (Computer Aided Dispatching), COP Training, SRO (School Resource Officers), DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education), Mountain Bike Patrol, Citizens Police Academy , Student Police Academy, and CNAS (Cincinnati Neighborhood Action Strategy).

Cincinnati has made many forward strides with regard to Community Policing and in 1995, the Ohio Crime Prevention Association awarded the Cincinnati Police Department with the "Outstanding Ohio Community Policing Initiative" award, giving credit to the Department for the many programs instituted to promote the Community Oriented Policing philosophy. Cincinnati also received the "COPS MORE GRANT" from the Federal Government which has further expanded the COP philosophy by adding additional personnel to meet the growing needs of the community.