To the Citizens of Albemarle County,  Welcome to the Albemarle County Police Department's web site.  We appreciate your interest, and encourage you to visit us here often.   This web site provides you with a variety of information on how our Department works, its outstanding personnel, and a number of community based programs. We hope that you'll find this information useful in getting to know us better.  It is the mission of the Albemarle County Police Department to promote and preserve a feeling of security, safety, and provide quality services for our citizens. As an agency committed to quality, all department members are trained to a high level and are dedicated to helping citizens improve their neighborhood environment as a means to a safer, more enjoyable community. Preventing crime is our first priority as we work from a community-based philosophy of policing. Working together we will make lasting improvements in our quality of life. Our Community Policing  philosophy promotes a  partnership with our community.  It is based on the premise that both police and the citizens must work together to identify, prioritize, and solve community concerns.  We must be creative and innovative as we work with neighborhoods to reduce and prevent crime, disorder and fear. We must  be actively involved in helping our citizens develop long-term solutions to their community problems.   The Albemarle County Police Department continuously reviews the deployment of our  resources in an effort to increase our ability to respond to community needs. The department is continuously advancing the use of technology in order to provide the most up-to-date information to our staff to enable us to be efficient and effective. Technology, however, can never replace the value of you, the citizens, sharing information with our officers.   We encourage and enjoy interactions with the community through the Apartment Coalition, volunteer programs, Citizens Police Academy, Neighborhood Watch and other community outreach programs.  If interested in becoming a volunteer or interested in any of our programs, please contact our Community Relations Coordinator, Diana Edwards, at (434) 972-4079 or edwardsd@albemarle.org