Support Services

Support Services Division manages the Hamilton Police Service’s emergency response functions, traffic, communications and court services.

The Communications Unit operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our role is to provide a centralized control of personnel and facilitate field operations through the rapid dissemination of critical information by radio and telephone.

Hamilton Police Service is the Primary Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) for the City of Hamilton. The Communications Unit is responsible for the initial answering of all 911 emergency calls.

Hamilton Police Service maintains offices in courthouses across the city, ensuring a vital link is made between police and the province's justice system. The police service also employs civilians as Special Constables, carrying out security duties.

Hamilton is home to three courthouses, located at the following locations:

John Sopinka Courthouse

45 Main St E

Superior Court of Justice Family Courthouse

55 Main St W

POA Court

50 Main St E

For more information, please go to the Ministry of the Attorney General.

The Emergency Response Unit provides a highly-trained Emergency Response Tactical Unit to support operations of the Hamilton Police Service in high risk and potentially life threatening situations.  The objective of the unit is to prevent the loss of life.

K9 Unit back in 1960, Hamilton Police Service was the first in the province to bring in a formal K9 unit.

Currently, Hamilton’s K9 Unit is comprised of four officers and their assigned police service dogs – Armour, Chase, Jake and Radar.

The Hamilton Police Service Marine Unit operates out of Hamilton Harbour year-round, conducting both law enforcement and rescue operations. During the boating season from April through November, the Unit actively patrols western Lake Ontario and Hamilton Harbour on a daily basis.  Throughout the non-boating months of December to March, the Unit responds to marine calls on an emergency basis, as well as ice rescue situations.

The Hamilton Police Service Public Order Unit is committed to providing a safe environment for the community at large and to ensure proper crowd management. The Public Order Unit is trained to manage crowds at all levels of order and disorder, striving to maintain public safety while preventing personal injury or property damage. The Public Order Unit is considered a secondary duty, meaning that when not performing the duties of a Public Order Unit Officer, members perform their normal duties throughout the organization.

The primary focus of the Traffic Branch is to improve traffic safety in the community through enforcement, education and community partnerships. Improving road safety through enforcement initiatives that deters aggressive driving, speeding, seatbelt noncompliance and year-long Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere (RIDE) lanes are also important functions of this branch.