Chief Message

Welcome to the Baytown Police Department. We believe that the citizens of Baytown are served by some of the finest police officers in the world. The Baytown Police Department is a full-service agency, serving a population of over 80,000 residents and growing. We are staffed by professional practitioners of police services that are committed to the success of the City of Baytown. We take ownership of our responsibility to serve the public good and maintain the public trust.

In 1829 Sir Robert Peele, who established the London Metropolitan Police demonstrated forward thinking far ahead of his time when he correctly stated that, “The public are the police and the police are public”. This is the foundation of an ethical police department. When I began my career in police services 26 years ago, those were some of the first words that I heard on the first day of the Huntsville Police Academy, in Huntsville, Alabama. Those words were as true on that day as they were when Sir Robert Peele first presented them to his department. They remain true today. The truth is, we cannot be as effective as we want to be, or as our citizens deserve, without the full cooperation of the public. I believed this as an idealistic police recruit. I believe this today.

The Baytown Police Department is dedicated to partnering with our citizens in the ideal and equitable administration of justice, as well as our criminal justice partners in the Bay Area. The very reason we exist is to ensure a safe environment where we can all pursue an enhanced quality of life free of the fear of crime by working with citizens to prevent crime through problem-solving efforts, and with the secure knowledge that a well-trained professional police department will respond when crime does occur and advocate justice for those affected.

The Baytown Police Department is a learning organization, that engages in on-going training at all levels of the organization. Whether it is required annual 40- hour training at our Police Academy, advanced training for officers, leadership courses, or specialized training for special assignments, the Baytown Police Officer is constantly engaged in training and education, leading to a more professional, open, forward-thinking police agency. This learning culture is what will continue to set us apart as we begin to strengthen our presence in the community and build on existing relationships, as well as forming new ones.

We believe that no person or group deserves to be marginalized for any reason. We take the health and safety of our community seriously and will devote all resources and efforts to preventing crime, solving crime, and bringing perpetrators of violence and other crimes to justice. We recognize that a police officer’s badge of office is a public trust conferred upon us to be held so long as we remain true to the oath that each of us has taken.

We will hold true to this oath and seek to fulfill our goal to become the safest city in Harris County.

John Stringer

Chief of Police

Baytown Police Department