Police Department

 


Chief-Winstrom.jpg Your safety is our highest priority. We will work together as a department and in partnership with the community to ensure all people feel safe and are safe in Grand Rapids. We are committed to being an effective, inclusive, and modern police department and advancing public safety while earning the trust and pride of those we serve. We value service delivered with compassion and courage; equity in providing fair and just services for all individuals; integrity of purpose and action; and being transparent and accountable in all we do. I am proud to lead this department and to serve Grand Rapids.

~Chief Eric Winstrom

 

   


cell phone with emergency alert sign-up  Connect with the City's emergency alert system

You can get information - from neighborhood messages to breaking emergency notifications - sent to your phone. 

Register for Alerts


Neighborhood Policing and Service Area Maps

To make sure that we're serving everyone in our community, we have five service areas. This helps us make sure that each area gets the unique services it needs. You can find out more about our neighborhood policing and service areas  and how we serve each one.


GRPD Strategic Plan (Updated February 2023)

We are committed to continuous learning, constant improvement, and policing in a manner embraced by our community, and which recognizes the Constitution as the foundation for policing and our success. Building trust, recruiting and retaining exceptional personnel, reducing crime, and seeking justice for victims is our focus. This strategic plan offers a roadmap for achieving success.

Download the Strategic Plan(PDF, 37MB)

 


Police Metric Dashboard

Check out the Police Metric Dashboard for GRPD's progress on various metrics related to:

  • Accountability
  • Community Engagement
  • Crime Statistics

View Police Dashboard


Some crash reports can be filled out online. Use the link below to see if your crash can be reported through our safe, secure online tool. A few things to keep in mind:

  • this reporting tool is only for crashes that have no injuries and vehicles that can be safely moved from the roadway
  • if your incident is an emergency, call 911
  • if your incident is not an emergency, but there are injuries and/or the vehicles can't be driven, please call 616-456-3400 to report the incident
  • the incident must be reported where it occurred--if it is outside the city limits of Grand Rapids, even if you live in Grand Rapids, please contact the police department where the crash occurred.

Report a Crash Online

For emergencies dial 911.

If you need to report a non-emergency crime, you have a few options. That's why we offer complete instructions for reporting crimes online, over the phone, or in person.

Report a Crime

Cybercrime and Identity Theft

GRPD partners with the Cybercrime Support Network (CSN). Victims of cybercrime – any crime that involves a computer and a network – should call the Heart of West Michigan United Way’s 211 hotline to get immediate help from a trained professional. GRPD officers are dispatched to any cyber-related crime where there is an immediate threat to life or property or any incident involving children. A police employee will continue to take complaints where there is an investigative lead or a local connection for follow-up purposes.

The Records Unit provides customer service, information resources, and law enforcement records to members of the public and local, state, and federal government agencies.

Services include:

1.     FOIA requests

2.     Crime/incident report copies (non-crash)

3.     Crash report copies

4.     Licenses to Purchase a firearm (LTP)

5.     Fingerprinting (GR Residents only)

 Records Unit

 

Complaints about improper parking can be made through the link below. If you are reporting a vehicle blocking driveways or streets that may need to be towed, please call the Police Department non-emergency line at 616-456-3400. Abandoned vehicles should be reported to 616-456-3310, by calling 311, or through the 311 app and website.

Report a Parking Complaint

We're here to serve you. So it's important that you know who your police department leaders are. Our command staff are dedicated to serving the community. Each of them brings unique experience to their role in the department.

Learn more about the police leaders who work hard to serve our community.

Report Abandoned Vehicles

Contact City of Grand Rapids 311 Customer Service, call 311 or 616-456-3000, or report via the grcity311 app


Community Engagement Unit

616-456-3301     GRPDRecruiting@grcity.us


Detective Unit

616-456-3380


Fleet Management

616-456-3419


Forensic Services Unit

616-456-3359


Internal Affairs Unit

616-456-3480


Chief of Police

616-456-3364


Property Management Unit (PMU)

616-456-4128


Media Relations 

616-456-4269     GRPDInfo@grcity.us


Records Unit

616-456-4177    


Office of Research & Planning (Accreditation)

616-456-4674


Special Response Team (SRT)

616-456-3244


Traffic Unit

616-456-3322


Training Unit

616-456-3330


Vice Unit

616-456-4800     GRPDVice@grcity.us


LGBTQ+ Liaison

616-456-3301


Subpoena Service

616-456-4470

Citizen Police Academy

Ever wonder what it's like to be a Police Officer? In our Citizen Police Academy program you'll get a peak at what our job is like.


Youth Programs

We offer programs specifically designed for children and young adults. If your child is interested in learning about what we do, they have a couple options.


"You Are Not Alone" (YANA) Check

YANA stands for "You Are Not Alone."  Volunteers visit elderly seniors who are shut-in or do not have family or friends to check in on them.

Apply Online


Vacation House Check

The Grand Rapids Police Department is pleased to provide the Vacation House Check service to members of our community.  To use this service, you must be absent from your home for at least 4 days and we need to receive this application at least 7 calendar days prior to your scheduled vacation.

Apply Online


There are a few different ways to volunteer with the Grand Rapids Police Department. Your knowledge and experience will count in a very meaningful way in our community!

The Volunteer & Neighborhood Services members serve all community members through assisting with community programs and other reporting duties, keeping officers focused on their most essential duties. For more information, click the button below.

Learn More

The Clergy on Patrol program is a partnership between the Grand Rapids Police Department (GRPD) and local clergy of different congregations and faith traditions to help build trust and positive interactions between the police and the neighborhood they serve.

Learn More

The Volunteer Advocate Team was created in response to the needs of grieving families after a traumatic loss. Volunteer Advocates respond to scenes of unexpected deaths to assist first responders, provide information, and support surviving loved ones.

Learn More

 

The most important part of our job is keeping you safe. We hope you never have to call us when the worst has happened. To help you prevent the worst from happening, we want to offer you some tips. You'll be surprised how much you can do to prevent crime inside and outside of your home.

You can still fall victim to a crime, even when you do everything right. We're here to help when that happens. Still, it helps to do everything you can to keep yourself, your family, and your property safe.

Learn More

The Victim Services Unit is designed to comfort and help victims after a crime, connect victims to services and resources they need, and help victims of crime through the healing process.

Learn More

If you have an issue with the way a Police Department employee handled a specific situation, we want to hear about it. To report an issue, you should contact our Internal Affairs Unit. We will hear your complaint and investigate it.

We also want to make sure that you have all of the information you need to understand the complaint process. That's why we've developed an online guide and a paper brochure.

CITIZEN COMPLAINT PROCEDURE GUIDE

Online Guide

CITIZEN COMPLAINT PROCEDURE GUIDE (DOWNLOAD FILES)

PDF Brochure English(PDF, 152KB) I PDF Brochure Spanish(PDF, 75KB)


If you need to file a complaint, we'll walk you through the process. Use the link below to learn more.

File a Complaint


April 4th Officer Involved Shooting Information

Did you receive exceptional service from a member of the Grand Rapids Police Department? Would you like to thank someone for their professionalism or hard work? Do you think a member of the department should have their supervisor advised of their going above and beyond the call of duty?

Words of thanks and gratitude may be sent here and will find their way to the GRPD member and their supervisor.

Email Us

The Police Department keeps a map of live traffic accident data. If you want to monitor Grand Rapids roads for traffic back-ups or other reasons, check out the map.

View the Map

Information and resources on the GRPD Unmanned Arial Systems (Drone) program:

Frequently Asked Questions(PDF, 185KB) (FAQ)

Fiscal Committee Purchase Agenda Item(PDF, 124KB) (August 22, 2023)

Fiscal Committee Purchase Presentation (August 22, 2023)

Committee of the Whole Presentation (April 11, 2023)

 

The Michigan Sex Offenders Registration Act (SORA) requires registered offenders to stay away from student safety zones. If you believe a sex offender is within a prohibited area, call 911.

View the Map

Do you have a security camera system at your residence or business?  You can register it with us so we can collect video if a crime happens in the area.

Click the link below and provide the necessary details. Please note: This does NOT give the police live access to your system. It simply lets the department know the location of cameras around the city. Having a database with known locations of surveillance cameras makes it faster for law enforcement to get video footage that may help solve a crime.

Register

The Michigan Drug Forfeiture Law (MCL 333.7521) requires public notification of items seized by the Grand Rapids Police Department for 10 days. These notifications will take place in local news papers, as well as the GRPD Website. To view property seized by the department click below.

View Notifications

CALEA (Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies) accreditation, represents a third-party review of policies, practices, and processes against internationally accepted public safety standards.

We have attained certification in both law enforcement and communications (emergency communications center/911 dispatch). As part of our on-going certification process, CALEA has established a public portal to receive comments regarding GRPD's compliance with its standards, engagement in the service community, delivery of public safety services, and overall candidacy for accredited status. These comments can be in the form of commendations or concerns. The overall intent of the accreditation process is to provide the participating agency with information to support continuous improvement, as well as foster the pursuit of professional excellence.

IMPORTANT: CALEA is not an investigatory body and subsequently the public portal should not be used to submit information for such purposes.  Additionally, there will be no response other than acknowledgement to submissions; however, the information will be considered in context to its relevancy to compliance with standards and the tenets of CALEA accreditation.  

CALEA Public Input Portal