The Nampa Police Department was established as a one member department in 1891. At that time Nampa was a railroad hub for the Union Pacific railroad, and the town originally evolved around the railroad. Salary and operational costs for the department were approximately $1,000 annually at that time.
By 1947, Nampa had developed into a quiet farming community, but was still a primary hub for the Union Pacific Railroad, which continued to be a large part of the towns focus. At that time, the department had grown to twenty employees with an annual budget of $60,000. The work week consisted of seven twelve hour days for male employees and six twelve hour days for female employees. The department had three patrol cars and one motorcycle to patrol and protect 15,000 residents, spread over approximately 8 square miles.
Nampa Police Department occupied the basement of the old City Hall (located where the fountain next to the current police station is now) until 1977. The current public safety building opened that year and NPD moved operations from the City Hall to the current building at that time. In 1978 the department grew to 46 employees. The department applied for and received a STEP (traffic) grant in 1979 and six officers were hired, including Carol Rowe, Nampa's first female patrol officer. 6 officers were then moved to the STEP team to work traffic full time. The team was disbanded after two years and the officers were absorbed into patrol. The STEP Team was later reinstated due to increasing problems with traffic and has been maintained since.
Between 1970 and 1990, Nampa's population had grown from 20,768 to 28,365. The city held position as the 4th largest in the state during that time. In 1990 the department had increased to 46 sworn personnel and approximately 17 support staff. Only 10 years later in 2000, the population had nearly doubled to 51,687, and moved Nampa to 2nd place in the state, and left the department struggling to keep up with the explosive growth.
The department has continued to grow with the community and at present the Nampa Police Department has 130 full time sworn officers, 11 sworn volunteer reserve officers, 53 civilian personnel and 55 civilian volunteers serving approximately 81,139 residents and 99,000 additional persons in the impact area surrounding Nampa, that conduct business or work in the city. The land area of the city has also expanded to approximately 41 square miles, and the budget has grown from $60,000 in 1947 to 17.025 million for fiscal 2009. Nampa is currently projected to continue to grow at a rate of approximately 8% a year. The vehicle fleet has grown from four vehicles in 1947 to 131 vehicles and trailers in 2008. 9 of those vehicles are motorcycles used in the Traffic Division and Street Crimes Division.
As of Dec 4, 2008, officers handled 49,074 calls for service in calendar year 2008, in addition to all officer generated contacts. Dispatch received in excess of 208,000 phone calls last year. This year, the Dispatch Center has received 202,858 phone calls as of Dec 4, making it one of the busiest Dispatch centers in the state.
The Nampa Police Department currently is spread out in eight different buildings throughout the city. The main station is downtown at 211 12th Ave. So. Property crimes investigators are housed in the Public Safety Building at 1103 2nd St. South, sharing space with Nampa Fire Department Administration. There are three substations spread in three different geographical areas in the city. They are the Stampede Substation at 320 Stampede Dr. This substation is a partnership with the Nampa Boys and Girls Club, and houses the School Resource Officers division. The West Substation is at 2112 W. Flamingo. This substation is co-located with the Nampa Fire Department and houses the S.T.E.P. team. The South Substation is at 916 Maple St. It is a partnership with Northwest Nazarene University Security and is used by the patrol division. All substations are used by the divisions assigned to them, as well as the on duty area car for that district. The Family Justice Center opened in November of 2005, and it houses Crimes against Persons detectives as well as the Nampa City Prosecutor's Office. It is located at 1305 3rd St. So. The Family Justice Center is a collaborative effort of multiple agencies gathered under one roof to benefit victims of Domestic Violence and Child Abuse. The Nampa Police training center is located at 9 12th Ave S, and provides training facilities for department training as well as interagency training. The eighth building is the Special Investigative Unit which is housed at a separate location.
The "new" public safety building was remodeled in 1996-1997 and the old 25 bed jail was torn out and that space was converted to office space. The drive through sally port was converted into a training room and large evidence storage, and large general storage areas in the basement were used to add on to locker rooms or converted to evidence storage. That remodel was projected to extend the life of the current building for 20 years, however the city and department have grown so fast that we have dramatically outgrown the current building much earlier than was projected in 1996 when the remodel was started. The City of Nampa has obtained property at 115 9th Ave S for the construction of a new public safety building. (Architects renderings one, two & three). Construction should begin in 2010, and the new facility will allow consolidation of the Nampa Police facilities and allow for significant future growth within the department for many years to come. The Family Justice Center will be maintained at it's current location, as well as the substations, to help maintain our new districting policy, implemented to attempt to provide better police service to the public.
On October 5, 2005, the Nampa Police Department building was renamed and dedicated as the "Hugh Nichols Law Enforcement Building", in honor of Officer Hugh Nichols, who was killed in the line of duty on October 5, 1931. Surviving members of his family were on hand for the ceremony, and his sister was presented with the folded flag from the dedication.
Throughout it's history thus far, NPD has been led by 24 recorded Chiefs' of Police. The first established Chief in 1901 was John Barry. The longest serving were Buster Baker, Chief from 1958-1978 and Marshall Brisbin, serving as Chief from 1982 to 2000. Chief Brisbin was followed by Chief Creech, whose service was cut short when he was killed in a plane crash in 2002. The department is currently led by Chief Bill Augsburger, who has been with NPD since 1986.
