Dalton Police Department

Dalton's police department in northwest Georgia has held state certification through the Georgia Police Accreditation Coalition since 1998 and national accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies since 2013. Its 89 sworn officers and 12 civilian staff follow a community policing philosophy, partnering with residents, businesses and civic groups to spot problems early. Patrol is organized into four shifts working 12-hour schedules, each led by a lieutenant and a sergeant and staffed with 10 officers, plus a school resource officer unit and a three-officer Traffic Enforcement Unit that targets speeding, distracted, reckless and impaired driving. That traffic unit took part in Governor's Office of Highway Safety programs, and in October 2024 the department placed second in its size category at the Georgia Governor's Challenge and received the 2024 Occupant Protection Award. The Criminal Investigations Division handles follow-up and major-crime cases, narcotics and gang investigations, crime and intelligence analysis, crime scene processing and polygraph examinations. Behind the scenes, the department runs its own in-service training, including annual firearms certification, while its Property and Evidence Section logged 2,013 new items of evidence and property in 2025 and handles GBI crime lab submissions.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau (ACS 2023), Dalton city, GA has an estimated population of 34,402.