Weatherford Police Department

Mission

Our mission is to enrich our community through exceptional professionalism, collaboration, and commitment to proactive policing.

About

The Weatherford Police Department had a very humble beginning starting around the turn of the last century. Earliest City of Weatherford records show a single paid night patrolman from about 1905 until the spring of 1919. At that time the night patrolman, B.R. Barker, was appointed as Weatherford's first Chief of Police. Upon his appointment the City added two patrolmen and formally created the Weatherford Police Department. One patrolman worked day shift and the other worked nights. By 1951 the department had evolved into an eight-man department including the current Chief at the time, Bert Reynolds. There were only two cars which had to be shared by all eight employees. The department continued to grow as the local population increased and Weatherford became a bedroom community to the City of Fort Worth.

Today the department is led by Chief Lance Arnold, who is the seventeenth official Chief of Police since its inception in 1919. Chief Arnold oversees a department budget of over 7.9 million dollars. Under his direction falls 72 sworn officers and 22 professional staff members.

The Department is divided into four main Divisions. The four main divisions include:

1. Administrative Services                                                                                                                                                                                                        2. Investigative Services
2. Support Services
3. Uniform Services (Patrol)

The officers and employees of the Weatherford Police Department take great pride in their department and the community in which they serve. They are educated, well-trained, and highly motivated to perform at the highest level. The Weatherford Police Department attained Recognition status in October 2016 from the Texas Police Chiefs Association Best Practices Recognition Program.

The City of Weatherford is well known for its rich western heritage, historical ambience and community spirit. Weatherford has been recognized several times as one of the Safest Cities in Texas by Safewise.com and has recently been recognized by Southern Living Magazine as one of the top 15 best cities in the country in which to retire.

Mission 

Our mission is to enrich our community through exceptional professionalism, collaboration, and commitment to proactive policing. 

Vision

We shall forge a path toward becoming the safest city in Texas and establishing ourselves as a leader within the law enforcement community.  We will remain steadfast in our commitment to this agency, our employees, and our community by delivering servant leadership, advanced training and development, wellness initiatives, and state of the art facilities and equipment. 

Core Values 

Justice - We are committed to ensuring both internal and external procedural justice, treating others with dignity and respect, giving people a voice, being neutral in our decision making, and conveying trustworthy motives.  

Accountability - We hold ourselves accountable to the highest ideals of professionalism, ethics, and competency at every level of the Department.  We take responsibility for our performance and our actions and are willing to admit our mistakes.

Integrity - We accept nothing less than total commitment to the highest moral and ethical principles. We believe that acting honorably is the foundation of everything we do and the basis of public trust. We earn credibility by doing the right thing, being open and honest, and actively living our core values.

Teamwork - We understand the strength of cooperation and collaboration, and that our success depends on our ability to perform together as one cohesive team.  We are dedicated to creating a positive environment which fosters camaraderie for the common good.

Innovation - We encourage new ideas that support the fulfillment of our mission.  We value input that challenges our current ways of doing business in order to better deliver our services.