Emergency Services
Within the Brownsville city limits, fire, police and Emergency Medical Service (EMS) may be reached by dialing 911.

Brownsville Police Department
The Brownsville Police Department, incorporated in 1848, continues the implementation of Commercial Oriented Policing Strategies necessary for meeting today's challenges.

The department employs approximately 242 officers 100 civilian staff.
Brownsville became the first Valley city to open a police network station when the Southmost Community Network Center went into operation. The 5,000 square foot building has served a definite need in the southeast section of the city. The center performs a number of functions for the community such as offering 25 community service programs to citizens. An additional police network station was opened in January of 2004 to serve Brownsville’s West side.

Brownsville Fire Department
Established in the 1880s, the Brownsville Fire Department is the oldest firefighting organization in the Rio Grande Valley. It has, however, grown from its early days as a volunteer organization into a thoroughly modern, safety - oriented department.

With a $6.2 million annual budget, the Brownsville Fire Department maintains 9 fire stations, including the Central Fire Station and the adjacent administration complex. Citizens are protected by equipment that includes 2 ladder trucks, ten pumper trucks, two brush trucks for fighting grass fires, a rescue 911 vehicle and  two rescue boats for river work. There are also 2 state-of-the-art rescue vehicles on full-time assignment to Fire Station #5, which is located at the Brownsville/SPI Airport.

There are approximately 126 men and women employed with the Brownsville Fire Department. City Fire Inspectors are fully qualified as arson investigators and the airport staff is qualified to handle aviation emergencies.  The Brownsville Fire Department is among the best equipped in South Texas.

Emergency Medical Services
The City of Brownsville operates its own 24-hour Emergency Medical Services (EMS) department. EMS provides a very important need and sense of security that the citizens of Brownsville have learned to rely on. With a $1.7 million annual budget, the city's EMS staffs forty technicians thoroughly qualified in advanced life-support procedures at the Mobile Intensive Care Unit.