Modesto Police Department

TheModesto Police Department (MPD) is the municipal law‑enforcement agency tasked with protecting the city of Modesto, California. It provides routine patrol services to deter and detect criminal activity throughout the city’s neighborhoods and commercial areas. Officers conduct criminal investigations, gather evidence, and work to identify and apprehend suspects in accordance with state and federal law. The department also handles traffic enforcement, responding to collisions and enforcing vehicle codes to promote roadway safety. Emergency response to 911 calls is a core function, ensuring that police resources are dispatched promptly for incidents requiring immediate intervention. In addition, MPD maintains records, provides officer training, and oversees internal affairs to uphold professional standards and accountability.

As a department of the City of Modesto, MPD operates under the city’s governmental structure and is funded through the municipal budget. In February 2023 the department experienced a cyberattack that potentially exposed personal information such as Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers of individuals whose data was held in police systems. The city responded by offering credit monitoring to affected individuals and confirmed that only a limited amount of data was accessed, with no ransom paid to the attackers. To contain the threat, officials isolated the police network from the broader city IT infrastructure, relying on preexisting preparedness measures and a rapid internal IT response. The incident disrupted patrol‑vehicle laptops and some police IT systems but did not compromise public‑safety functions or 911 operations, and the department collaborated with cybersecurity experts and other law‑enforcement agencies during the investigation. MPD’s status as a municipal police agency means it has no separate parent or subsidiary entities; it is a direct component of the City of Modesto’s public‑safety apparatus.