Captain Daniel Gerard
Special Services Section Commander

SPECIAL SERVICES SECTION, commanded by a captain, is responsible for the Park Unit, Canine Squad, Mounted Squad, Youth Services Unit, Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) Squad, School Resource Officer (SRO) Squad and the Traffic Unit.

• Park Unit, commanded by a lieutenant, is responsible for patrol of the City's 141 park areas, which encompass 4,765 acres of land. This unit is committed to providing a more visible police presence and improving safety in City parks. Other responsibilities include response to citizen requests for assistance, enforcement of criminal and traffic laws, regulation of non-criminal conduct, reporting incidents and offenses, investigation of criminal activity and enforcement of park rules. The Park Unit is responsible for the planning and coordination of events in the parks. The Park Unit Commander is also responsible for the supervision of the Canine Squad.
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  • Canine Squad, supervised by a sergeant, is responsible for assisting district officers in high-risk search situations. On a cooperative basis, in conjunction with the mutual aid agreements, the canine teams can be used by other police agencies within Hamilton County, with approval of a command officer.
    

• Youth Services Unit, commanded by a lieutenant, is responsible for the administration and services related to juveniles. Youth Services Unit includes the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) Squad and School Resource Officer (SRO) Squad. This unit is committed to the development and perpetuation of programs designed to prevent and control juvenile delinquency. The responsibility for participating in or supporting the agency's juvenile operations function is shared by all agency components and personnel.
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  • DARE Squad, supervised by a sergeant, is responsible for implementing and coordinating the DARE program. Kindergarten through eighth grade classes are instructed by police officers in all Cincinnati public schools and selected private schools. Fundamental courses are given to kindergarten through fourth grade students. The core of the program is taught to fifth grade students and upon successful completion they graduate from the DARE course. Reinforcement classes are then given to students in grades six through eight.
    
  • School Resource Officer (SRO) Squad ,supervised by a sergeant, consists of uniformed personnel working in the schools providing community police services to the school population.
  
  
• Traffic Unit, commanded by a lieutenant, is responsible for coordinating the Department's traffic efforts. It has staff supervision over the Department's selective enforcement program and other specialized traffic related programs. The responsibilities of this unit include radar and intoxilyzer training and certification, fatal accident investigation, conducting analysis of citywide traffic accident data and recommends solutions for accident reduction utilizing both internal and external Department resources, assisting the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Ohio State Patrol (OSP) in aircraft crash investigations and assisting the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), Division of Watercraft, in boat crashes. The unit also acts as a liaison and an implementation site for state programs such as the seat belt and holiday drunk driving programs. The unit supervises and coordinates private police officers, school crossing guards and the Public Vehicles/Private Police Squad.

• Vortex Unit, commanded by a lieutenant, is a highly visible, proactive unit that has a zero tolerance approach to street crimes, drug trafficking, and quality of life issues.  The focus of this unit is to seek out and physically arrest both minor and major criminal offenders by enforcing every law available and using every tool at our disposal to inconvenience criminals. By utilizing uniform patrols, Mountain Bike officers, plainclothes officers and confidential informants, the Vortex Unit makes a positive impact in the City.  The Vortex Unit assists the districts by targeting hot spots and providing additional uniform presence during high profile events.