In the last 100 years, the population of the City of Lafayette more than tripled, from an estimated population of 21,000 people in 1913 to over 71,782 people in 2017. During that same time, the Lafayette Police Department has continued to grow and adapt to changes in infrastructure, population, growth, and evolving styles of policing. The sworn size of the police department has grown to 142 sworn officers, which equates to 1.97 officers per 1000 citizens in the city. According to the most recent FBI Uniform Crime Reporting report in 2009, the Midwest average for similarly sized cities was 1.6 officers per 1000 citizens. Civilian employees have also increased over the last ten years, to meet the increasing demands from a larger city, from 31 to 47 people.

 

The Lafayette Police Department is divided into three divisions: Patrol, Administrative Services, and Investigations. Patrol is the largest of the divisions, and the backbone of the product that the Lafayette Police Department provides to the community. Patrol encompasses the Traffic Division, Street Crimes Unit, and many specialty units including SWAT, CDU, and K9. Investigations include the criminal and juvenile investigative units, as well as narcotics investigations. Administrative Services includes training, hiring, internal affairs, and community outreach. --from the 2017 Annual Report

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Kilo is a Belgian Malinois dog that was born in Poland on November 2, 2018. Kilo was certified as a dual purpose K9 in March 2020 by Vohne Liche Kennels. Kilo has been serving the Lafayette Police Department since March 2020. Kilo and Officer Brainard serve with four other K9 Units in the Lafayette Police Force.