The Clayton Police Department is a full time police department composed of three full-time police officers, two part-time officers and a K-9. The department's relationship with the community is "community policing at its finest." This is shown by the low crime rate statistics in the village. This is largely due to the "small-town" relationship that the citizens share with the Police Department. The officers routinely interact with the community and are able to have a finger on the pulse of what is going on in the Village as well as the sharing of concerns and problems relating to public safety between citizens, local government and the police, making this relationship an effective tool for proactively enforcing and solving community related police issues.
The officers of the Clayton Police Department are actively involved with the development of youth in the community by providing the young people activities such as snowmobile and all terrain vehicle safety courses, coaching sports activities and mentoring internship programs with the local school district. The officers often lecture at local schools and youth groups promoting good citizenship and warning about "at risk activities" such as drugs, violence, etc. The department's police K-9 "Cosmo", a police narcotics detection and tracking dog, provides an excellent vehicle for the police to relate with the young people of the community while also providing a deterrent for criminal activity.
The department employs a dog control officer who works to address animal control issues as they apply to the Village Code as well as the New York State Agricultural and Markets Law. On the Clayton Police vehicles is the village motto: "Where the Tradition Continues." To the Clayton Police Department this motto means the tradition of providing a safe and pleasant experience to all who enter and live in the Village of Clayton is first and foremost in our minds and hearts.
