Our Mission

“Our mission is to serve and protect with steadfast character, demonstrating integrity and earning the trust of our community. We are committed to building strong partnerships, ensuring safety, and delivering justice. Through our commitment, we uphold professionalism, accountability, and a dedicated focus on the welfare of those we serve.”

Core Values

Character

We will conduct ourselves with integrity, professionalism, and respect in every situation. Our actions will reflect honesty and sound judgment, both in public and within the Department. We recognize that our individual character shapes the reputation of the entire Stoughton Police Department. Each of us is expected to do what is right, even when no one is watching, and to hold ourselves to the highest ethical standards.

Commitment

We are dedicated to our mission, our community, and each other. Commitment means more than doing our job — it means continually striving to improve, to learn, and to serve with purpose. We will remain steadfast in our responsibilities and uphold the public’s trust through reliability, professionalism, and perseverance. Our commitment ensures that we deliver consistent, dependable service to all those who rely on us.

Community

We believe policing is a partnership between our Department and the people we serve. We will work to build mutual trust through open communication, compassion, and collaboration. Every interaction is an opportunity to strengthen relationships and enhance the safety and well-being of Stoughton’s residents. Together, we create a community that is safer, stronger, and united by shared respect and understanding.

The Stoughton Police Department is committed to:

Protecting and Serving
Building Partnerships
Reaching Out to Those in Need
Being Empathetic
Adapting
Extending a Hand and Understanding
Acting with Integrity
Upholding the Best Policing Policies and Practices
Professionalism
Transparency
Accountability

Our Vision

“To make Stoughton safe, strong, and supportive of everyone.”

The Stoughton Police Department committed to protecting you and your ability to live, work, and play in our community.

We know our community is stronger together, which is why we build partnerships, work with local business owners, our schools, neighborhood groups, elected leaders, our faith community, and those who represented the amazing diversity of our community. We work with those in need, people we see on the worst day of their lives, individuals who need empathy and professional help, and those who do wrong.

We are committed to getting it right—for them and our community.

Police reform and police culture are talked about regularly—and deserve to be. Both are focuses of the media, community leaders, and legislators. And they should be.

The Stoughton Police Department is also seeking change from within. Our expectations for higher accountability to our values and each other are of utmost importance. That means building a culture of accountability that survives personnel changes, a crisis, or a test of our commitment.

Our new mission statement, new vision statement, and our efforts to change our culture for the better have involved feedback and participation from everyone ranging from an officer in his job for just six months, to union representatives, to our command staff.

In closing, our mission, our vision, and our culture will determine our destiny and our ability to serve you with distinction.

Thank you for the trust you lend us every day and I promise you our team’s best work to honor that trust.