Surprise police shifting beats

The Surprise Police Department recently shifted officers into new beats and announced each beat's new supervising sergeants.

By January, police officials said, the beat boundaries also will be redrawn, resulting in an additional beat.

The department operates on the beat-team concept to hold its officers accountable.

The agency has six beats, and every officer is committed to one of them, also called a patrol squad, for one year. These squads are responsible for all activities and follow-up investigations in specific areas of the city, and are overseen by beat sergeants.

Police Chief Daniel Hughes said the creation of a new beat by early next year is being done to distribute calls more evenly as Surprise's population increases and residents' needs are assessed.

Scott Connelly, an assistant chief, said there were some beats "taking a whole bunch of calls," while other areas were not getting as many.