Investigations Division
General Information
The Criminal Investigations Division is responsible for investigating felony crimes against persons and property occurring in the unincorporated areas of El Paso County. The division is led by 1 commander, 3 section lieutenants, and 6 unit supervisors that oversee Crimes Against Persons, Property Crimes, Technical Investigations, and the Metro Vice, Narcotics, and Intelligence Section.
Crimes Against Persons
The Violent Crimes Unit provides specialized investigations for homicide, suspicious deaths, attempted murder, kidnapping, aggravated robbery and serious assaults. The Cold Case Unit proactively combines forensic advances with traditional investigative techniques to solve cold case homicides. Technical support staff assigned to the Metro Crime Laboratory are specialized in Firearms and Toolmark Examination, Crime Scene Investigation, and Fingerprint Examination.
The Special Victim’s Unit (SVU) is responsible for proactive and reactive investigations which include crimes against children, adult sexual assault, and crimes against at risk victims. The unit maintains Task Force affiliation with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to continually engage in investigations and prosecutions of persons involved in child abuse and exploitation involving the internet. The Office of the Sex Offender Registration Coordinator, in conjunction with the SVU, conducts compliance checks on registered sex offenders, maintains a database of registered sex offenders and provides awareness to the public of sexually violent predators.
Members of the Victim Assistance Program respond to victims of violent crime covered by the Victim’s Rights Act and/or their families. Victim advocates are civilian personnel and volunteers who provide outreach and assess the needs of victims, provide information and referrals about resources in the community, victims compensation benefits, education and awareness of victims’ rights.
Property and Technical Investigations
The Digital Forensics Unit is responsible for the collection, downloading, and preservation of digital evidence commonly found on cell phones, home and office computers, closed circuit television and surveillance footage, fit-bits, and other digital devices.
The Property Crimes Unit is responsible for the investigation of crimes against property including burglaries, arsons, auto thefts, criminal mischief, and complex livestock crimes.
The Criminal Intelligence Unit is responsible for using Intelligence-Led Policing (ILP) as a managerial philosophy where data analysis and crime intelligence are pivotal to an objective, decision making framework that facilitates crime and problem reduction, disruption and prevention through both strategic management and effective enforcement strategies that target prolific and serious offenders.
The Financial Crimes Unit is responsible for the investigation of complex financial and fraud crimes including the financial exploitation of at-risk adults, counterfeiting, and identity theft.
Metro VNI Section
The Metro Vice and Narcotics Section is a multi-agency task force partially comprised of members of the Sheriff’s Office. The purpose of this Section is to reduce crime that involves illegal drug activity and acts that are contradictory to community morals.
Task Force Officers (TFO) are also assigned to multiple federal partnerships, bringing resources and tools which would otherwise not be available. These agency partnerships include the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force (FBI-JTTF), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF).