The Town of Culpeper has not always had a police department. Prior to the formation of the Culpeper Police Department, a sergeant and constables served the town's law enforcement needs.

On June 15, 1956, Roy F. Jamison was named the first Police Chief of the Culpeper Police Department. At that time, Town of Culpeper was just less than 1 square mile and had one stoplight that was manually operated.

Since 1956, the Police Department has only had four Chiefs of Police. The second Chief of Police, Charles B. Jones, took over the Police Department on Jan. 1, 1980 and served in that capacity until his retirement on Dec. 31, 2000.

In March, 2001, Town Council hired Daniel V. Boring as its third police chief.  Upon his retirement in 2007, Scott Barlow became police chief until his retirement in June, 2010.

On June 1, 2010, then-Capt. Chris Jenkins, a Culpeper native and veteran Culpeper police officer, was named Interim Police Chief and was selected as the permanent police chief Sept. 7, 2010.

Since the Town Police Department was formed, the town has grown to 6.5 square miles and added many more stoplights. The department is authorized 42 sworn officers. With reserve officers and civilian employees, the staff of the Culpeper Police Department is comprised of more than 50 men and women.

The Culpeper Police Department is an internationally accredited police department by CALEA. The department was first accredited in 2005 and reaccredited in 2008.