The Patrol Division is the largest unit in the department and is comprised of three (3) separate shifts. Officers of the Patrol Division are responsible for answering all initial calls for service that come in to the Muscatine County Joint Communications Center (MUSCOM). The separate shifts are assigned as follows:
- Day Shift – 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Afternoon Shift - 3 p.m. to 1 a.m.
- Night Shift - 9 p.m. to 7 a.m.
Day shift officers work five 8-hour days while the afternoon and night shift officers work four 10-hour days. This schedule maintains a four-hour overlap of the afternoon and night shift which allows the shift supervisor to assign "special details" to officers on a rotational basis. "Special Details" are short term duty assignments that tend to target particular problems issues within the city. For example, a shift supervisor may assign Bike Patrol or officers in plain clothes and an unmarked vehicle to the area with an uptick of car burglaries.