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The 'Department of Public Safety' is a state or local government umbrella agency in the United States which serves to assist the certain agencies in their services by providing administrative, financial, and technical services and support for core public safety functions for some or all of the following:

★ Fire and EMS services - includes fire prevention and suppression, all types of rescue services and HAZMAT response.

★ Police and security guard licensing services - including crime prevention, suppression and investigation, uniformed patrol and response, and operates the Crimestoppers Program.

★ Emergency communications - operates the public interface emergency communications telephone system by providing the 9-1-1 and Enhanced 911 emergency telephone numbers.

★ OES or Office of Emergency Services - plans for and operates the Emergency Operations Center during calamities, disasters, special events and emergencies.

★ Inspections and code enforcement - usually building safety, which includes construction, electrical et al and/or vehicle inspections.

★ Animal control - This category could also include wildlife officers, game wardens and dog catchers.
In other countries and states, an equivalent might be known as the Ministry of the Interior or Department of Emergency Services. The United States Department of Homeland Security is the federal level Department of Public Safety of the United States, it is responsible for federal emergency services via Federal Emergency Management Agency of the United States or (FEMA).

Contents

State level

List of state Departments of Public Safety

Local level

List of cities with Departments of Public Safety with fully cross-trained personnel

See also

References

State level

In state governments in the United States, the DPS is usually a law enforcement agency synonymous with the state police. At local and special district levels, they may be all-encompassing. Examples of states having these include Texas, Minnesota, Tennessee, Arizona, Alabama, Oklahoma, and South Carolina. In many states the state police may be a subdivision of the DPS and not its own independent department.

List of state Departments of Public Safety

★ Alabama Department of Public Safety

★ Alaska Department of Public Safety

★ American Samoa Department of Public Safety

★ Arizona Department of Public Safety

★ Colorado Department of Public Safety

★ Connecticut Department of Public Safety

★ Delaware Department Of Safety And Homeland Security

★ Georgia Department of Public Safety

★ Hawaii Department of Public Safety

★ Iowa Department of Public Safety

★ Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet

★ Louisiana Department of Public Safety

★ Maine Department of Public Safety

★ Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services

★ Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety

★
★ Massachusetts Department of Public Safety

★ Minnesota Department of Public Safety

★ Missouri Department of Public Safety

★ Mississippi Department of Public Safety

★ New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety

★ New Hampshire Department of Safety

★ New Mexico Department of Public Safety

★ Nevada Department of Public Safety

★ North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety

★ Ohio Department of Public Safety

★ Oklahoma Department of Public Safety

★ South Carolina Department of Public Safety

★ South Dakota Department of Safety

★ Tennessee Department of Safety

★ Texas Department of Public Safety

★ Utah Department of Public Safety

★ Vermont Department of Public Safety

Local level

Most local jurisdictions (cities and counties), and special districts (schools and hospital) have the umbrella configuration described above, in which the DPS is simply a joint administration of several distinct agencies. They may share administrative support staff and back-office functions, but sworn personnel remain specialized and have particular responsibilities (that is, the police continue to arrest people and the firefighters put out fires). The DPS of Cobb County, Georgia is one example.
However, a minority of jurisdictions have Departments of Public Safety which have primary and direct responsibility for all emergencies. In these unusual organizations, all full-time sworn personnel are cross-trained as police officers, firefighters and/or EMT's, and can respond to emergencies in any capacity. Although it is more expensive to hire, train and retain such personnel, they have a clear advantage in terms of their flexibility. They can respond on their own to any number of rapidly evolving situations rather than waiting for the arrival of other specialized personnel.^[1]
This configuration was widely popular in the 1970s and 1980s throughout the United States, but has since gone out of style because relatively few cities have been able to execute it successfully.

List of cities with Departments of Public Safety with fully cross-trained personnel

★ Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin

★ Albion, Michigan

★ Bensenville, Illinois- A law passed in the State of Illinois recently forced Bensenville to give up its Public Safety program. The Bill, HB1368 (now Public Act 094-0720) stated in its synopsis "Amends the Illinois Municipal Code. Provides that a non-home rule municipality shall not assign a fireman to perform police duties or a policeman to perform firefighting duties. Prohibits a non-home rule municipality from administering fire and police department work assignments in a manner inconsistent with this requirement." Bensenville was the only municipality in Illinois to be affected. The Village of Bensenville believes this bill is in retaliation to Bensenville's long opposition to O'Hare Airport expansion, as the sponsors of the bill were Democrats from the City of Chicago, the main proponents of expansion.

★ Beverly Hills, Michigan

★ Cayce, South Carolina

★ Dalworthington Gardens, Texas

★ East Grand Rapids, Michigan

★ Escanaba, Michigan

★ Eugene, Oregon

★ Farmington, Michigan

★ Gardner, Kansas

★ Gladstone, Michigan

★ Glencoe, Illinois

★ Greenville, Michigan

★ Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan

★ Highland Park, Texas

★ Ironwood, Michigan

★ Ivins, Utah

★ Kalamazoo, Michigan[1] (claims to be the largest with about 380 sworn personnel)

★ Kingston Springs, Tennessee

★ Lindsay, California

★ North Augusta, South Carolina

★ North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

★ Oak Park, Michigan

★ Oakwood, Montgomery County, Ohio

★ Orangeburg, South Carolina

★ Petoskey, Michigan

★ Plainwell, Michigan

★ Prestonburg, Kentucky

★ Rohnert Park, California

★ Spartanburg, South Carolina

★ Sunnyvale, California

★ Waterville Valley, New Hampshire

★ Watauga, Texas

★ Woodway, Texas

See also

★ Coalition for Effective Public Safety

★ Commissioner of Public Safety

★ Commissioner of Public Affairs and Public Safety

★ CUNY Public Safety Department (Peace Officers)

★ Effective Safety Training

★ Florida Public Safety Information Act

★ Home Office

★ Justice and Public Safety Practitioner

★ Los Angeles County Office of Public Safety

★ Ministry of the Interior

★ National Safety Council

★ National Atmospheric Release Advisory Center

★ Office of Public Safety

★ Ontario Minister of Public Safety and Security

★ Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training

★ Public safety

★ Public-safety answering point

★ Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor

★ Wireless Communications and Public Safety Act

★ Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2007

References

1. Paul Harlow, "Glencoe's public safety services," ''Public Management'' 76, no. 6 (June 1994): 25-27.