The Putnam Police Department was established in 1896. For over 110 years, it has been our commitment to provide this community with a lifestyle where you can walk the streets at night time safely, and rest assured that your property is being protected and patrolled.

As chief of this agency, I’m honored to carry on the tradition of the Putnam Police Department. Members of this department are held to the highest of standards. We strive to provide an outstanding and professional service for the people of Putnam. We maintain an open door policy and welcome comments and concerns.

We pride ourselves with a positive relationship to this community and the people that we serve. We have a sense of community policing that is second to none. We maintain the personality of a small town police department where officers are known by name, while at the same time keeping pace with technology and procedures which are equal to a large city police department.

The Putnam Police Department consists of fifteen sworn officers. Administration is headed by myself and Deputy Chief Joe Froehlich. In the near future we’ll add an administrative assistant and a records clerk. Each patrol shift is manned by a patrol sergeant and a squad of officers. We have a criminal investigation unit, and we’re in the process of adding a K-9 unit.

Police Headquarters, located at 189 Church St. houses the Putnam Emergency Dispatch Center. The center is a 911 answering point with calls for police, fire and EMS are received and dispatched by a certified public safety dispatcher. With this direct communication between dispatch and police units, this community enjoys an average response time of less than two minutes to ninety percent of all requests for services.

Officers walk a minimum of one hour of foot beat per shift, which calculates to 60 hours worth of foot beat per week. Officers stop in at local businesses where they personally interact with business owners and members of the community. Officers randomly walk through our local bank branches and speak to bank employees numerously throughout the shift.

We continue our tradition of offering our services which many other police departments have eliminated. We conduct daily house checks for citizens who are away on vacation. We provide security and transportation to merchants making after hours deposits at local banks and will unlock vehicles for persons who have mistakenly locked their keys in their cars.

Officers are medically certified for response to first aid scenes. Each patrol vehicle is equipped with automatic defibrillators. And certified officers can respond to a heart attack within minutes.

Please feel free to browse our website. You will see that we’ve made an attempt to provide the information that everyone is looking for. You will find the email addresses for all the officers including Deputy Chief Froehlich and myself. We can also be reached by phone at the phone numbers listed on this page.