It is a critical responsibility of a chief executive officer to define his organization's mission and philosophy, and a police department should be no different than any other organization. The process by which the police and community, together, defined the Aurora (Illinois) Police Department's mission is described. The first step was to create a committee consisting of both police and community members. The next step was to understand what a mission statement is and what it is intended to do. Then the issue of how the department should conduct its business was addressed. From the beginning, the committee's focus had been on community service, using a problem-oriented approach. Each sentence of the developed mission statement addresses an issue of concern, i.e. police conduct of business, crime prevention commitment, public trust and support, work environment, and continued personnel development. The fourth step was the implementation of the mission statement.