Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, Deputies are on patrol.

The Patrol Deputies are responsible for your immediate safety. All of the other services provided by the station are essentially in support of this mission. They are deployed in teams working overlapping 12.5 hour shifts and respond to calls for law enforcement service from the citizens in the communities served by the Alpine Sheriff's Station.

The most frequent calls for service include reports of suspicious persons, false business/ residential alarms, and 911 "hang-up" calls from pay phones. The Deputies respond to all calls and must handle each with caution. Public safety is a priority. Deputies conduct preliminary investigations when a crime has occurred and prepare the necessary reports for follow-up by detectives.

When not answering calls, the Deputies actively patrol their assigned beats and concentrate on problem areas identified by recent trends. Currently, and traditionally, property crimes dominate statistics with auto thefts and auto burglaries significant problems.

Patrol Deputies are also active in the community during their shift, attending Neighborhood Watch meetings and making various presentations to youth groups and schools.

All Patrol Deputies are trained in the COPPS philosophy. COPPS stands for Community Oriented Policing and Problem Solving. The COPPS philosophy is used to solve problems that are particularly vexing to the community in which they serve. The philosophy brings a sharp focus to a particular problem and then works to provide practical solutions by utilizing Sheriff's Department resources plus their community contacts.

The problems are generally community specific in nature and are brought forward by citizens and officials from the station's service area. Providing strong assistance to the COPPS philosophy are the Crime Prevention and Senior Volunteer Patrol units.

The COPPS philosophy has gained widespread acceptance as it continues to work on law enforcement issues confronting local residents and businesses. Personal involvement by Sheriff's personnel working in cooperation with their neighbors in the community forms a strong partnership, helping break down traditional barriers, forming common goals and objectives.