The Fort Lee Police Department (FLPD), in existence since 1904, currently has 95 active duty members under Chief Keith M. Bendul. The Police Department is located at 1327 16th Street, which houses a full police operations facility including a detention cellblock for holding prisoners, full processing and fingerprinting facilities, record-keeping facilities, and secured evidence storage.
The FLPD is not limited to enforcement duties alone, but also provides a number of services to the community including the Vacant House Watch program, and assistance with home and auto lockouts.
The motor patrol fleet of the FLPD is highly diversified to meet the demands of policing one of the busiest municipalities in the county. In addition to computer equipped patrol cars, where officers can look up motor vehicle and certain criminal histories without calling in on the radio, a full service Traffic Unit provides state of the art assistance in managing the various traffic problems that arise within the Borough.
A radar sign board passively and effectively reminds motorists to slow down on the local thoroughfares. A motorcycle fleet can cut through the heaviest traffic in response to not only traffic problems, but almost all types of emergencies. This, coupled with certain officers' specialized training in various tactical responses such as assault sniper, hostage negotiation and recovery, and other specialized functions, make the Fort Lee Police Department uniquely qualified among surrounding departments to handle high risk tactical responses.
Personnel are encouraged to improve their professional skills by attending schools on the local, county, and state levels. To this end, the Department has numerous certified Emergency Medical Technicians, Breathalyzer operators, and firearms instructors, in addition to the tactical officers noted above.
Perhaps best of all for Fort Lee citizens, much of the equipment and training noted above comes at no expense to the local taxpayer, being paid for by confiscated funds obtained from drug related investigations and arrests. Hundreds of thousands of municipal dollars have been saved in the past several years by purchasing materials, vehicles and equipment through the confiscated drug funds program.