The Detective
Division is plain-clothes-police investigation work obtaining
evidence for use in the apprehension and prosecution of law
violators. An Investigation Division Commander supervises the unit.
One Sergeant and four investigators staff the unit.
There are different ways in which a Detective
becomes involved in a case. After a uniformed officer receives
a call, the report is written and the case is forwarded
to the unit. Some of the criteria used to determine which
cases merit follow-up include suspect information, witness
statements, vehicle information, physical evidence, method
of operation and crime patterns. Assignments are usually
in the form of special cases to follow to conclusion, normally
culminating in the preparation of cases for prosecution,
although detectives may investigate general complaints.
The tasks handled
by the Investigations Division include the following:
Crimes Against Persons: Batteries, domestic
violence, robberies, assaults and death investigations.
Property Crimes: Motor vehicle thefts,
burglaries, thefts and criminal damage to property cases.
Financial Crimes: Bank fraud, credit card
fraud, check cases and forgeries.
Juvenile Crimes: Crime in which the offenders
or the victims are juveniles.
Evidence Technician: Processes crime scenes; collects,
evaluates and stores evidence; and is responsible for
transferring the evidence to either local, state, or
federal crime labs for the appropriate analysis.
