Prior to 1985, the Villages of Fayetteville , Manlius and Minoa, maintained their own police department. The Town of Manlius had no police department, and contracted with the three villages for police service in the areas of the town surrounding the respective villages. In 1984, the three villages and the Town of Manlius entered into a joint municipal agreement to combine resources into a single town-wide police agency for the purpose of eliminating duplication of services, standardizing the delivery of services to town residents, and controlling escalating costs. The Town of Manlius Police Department began operations on January 1, 1985 . Leo N. Capria, Jr., was appointed as its first Chief of Police.
Today, the Town of Manlius Police Department is headquartered in the Village of Manlius in the building that originally housed the Village of Manlius Police Department. The Town of Manlius Police Department provides a full range of police services to the community to include family services, school resource officers, bike patrol, evidence and accident technicians and an Emergency Service Team. Oversight of the police department is provided by the Police Committee comprised of two town board members and one board member from each of the three villages.
