Investigations Division
General Information
The Investigations Division is responsible for investigating the vast majority of felony crimes against persons and property occurring in the unincorporated areas of El Paso County. The division includes Major Crimes Unit, General Investigation Unit, Sex Crimes Unit, Financial Crimes Unit, Computer Crimes and Cold Cases. The Division is also responsible for the Evidence Facility, Victims Advocates, Metro Vice and Narcotics and members of the Metro Crime Laboratory. The Division is led be a Commander and is overseen by one Lieutenant and three Sergeants.
The Major Crimes Unit and Cold Cases consist of a sergeant, who also supervises the Computer Crimes detective, and six detectives. The Unit is responsible for investigating cases involving crimes against persons. These cases include homicide, suspicious deaths, attempted murder, kidnapping, aggravated robbery and serious assaults. The Cold Case detective is responsible for following up on cold homicide cases and missing person cases.
The Computer Crimes Unit consists of the same sergeant and one detective. This Unit is responsible for investigating any computer related crimes, to include internet luring and sexual exploitation of children. This detective is also responsible for computer forensics and obtaining information from cellular telephones.
The General Investigations Unit consists of one sergeant, who also supervises the Financial Crimes Unit, and four detectives. The unit is responsible for property crimes, primarily conducting follow up investigations on residential/business burglaries, theft, motor vehicle thefts and criminal trespass cases.
The Financial Crimes Unit consists of the same sergeant and four detectives. This Unit is responsible for the investigation of crimes such as identity theft, check fraud, forgery, financial related scams and organized crime.
The Sex crimes Unit consists of one sergeant and six detectives and a Sex Offender Coordinator. This Unit is responsible for investigation of sexual related cases such as sexual assaults on children, incest, adult sexual assault and luring. The Unit is also responsible for cases involving Adult Protective Services cases such as care taker neglect and financial fraud against the elderly. They also conduct compliance checks on registered sex offenders, maintaining a database of registered sex offenders and providing awareness to the public of sexually violent predators.
The Evidence Facility is operated by two civilian employees. They receive, store and maintain all evidence collected by members of the Sheriff’s Office. They also handle found property, property for safekeeping and vehicles impounded by members of the Sheriff’s Office.
The Victim Assistance Program is overseen by the Investigations Lieutenant. The Program has one supervisor, two grant funded full time employees and eleven volunteer victim advocates. Members of the Program respond to victims of violent crime and/or their families, victims in crisis, and family survivors in cases of violent and sudden deaths. Victim advocates are civilian employees and volunteers who are available 365 days a year. These advocates 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.
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.
The men and women of the Investigations Division take great pride in the trust bestowed upon them as detectives and civilian personnel. They desire nothing more than to be the voice of the citizens of our community and the victims of crime as they seek out the truth from the beginning of an investigation until it concludes with the prosecution of individuals responsible for the crime.
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office currently has 18 cold homicide cases and 7 missing person cases with suspicious circumstances. The Cold Case Unit consists of one full time detective and one volunteer. If you have any information on any of the Sheriff’s Office unsolved cases, please contact Dispatch at (719) 390-5555 and ask for Investigations.
The Deadly Force Investigations Team (DFIT) will investigate matters where, when acting in official capacity, a Parties’ law enforcement personnel:
The two person Evidence Unit receives, stores and maintains all of the evidence taken into custody by the Sheriff’s Office. Additionally the section handles found property, impounded vehicles and property held for safekeeping. They also coordinate the release of property by appointment.
The Evidence Unit destroys a considerable amount of items taken into the facility each year. Each item destroyed has been approved for release or destruction by policy or order of the District Attorney’s Office. A few examples of why items are destroyed include: The Item is destroyed (typically weapons) as part of a plea agreement; The item contains bodily fluids and potential biohazards rendering them unsafe to maintain or release; illegal weapons or illicit drugs and drug paraphernalia.
The Colorado Springs Police Department and the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office formed a joint forensic laboratory at the time the Police Operations Center first opened in 1993. The Metro Crime Lab provides impartial and professional documentation, collection and evaluation of a variety of different types of physical evidence. The Unit includes chemists, firearms examiners, crime scene technicians, DNA analysts, and latent fingerprint examiners who provide analysis and expert courtroom testimony for a variety of forensic disciplines.
The Metro Vice, Narcotics and Intelligence (Metro VNI) Division is a multi-agency task force involving law enforcement partnerships between the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, Colorado Springs Police Department, 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, Teller County Sheriff’s Office, Fountain Police Department and the Woodland Park Police Department. Metro VNI is comprised of Street Impact Teams, a Human Trafficking Team, an Intelligence Team and Liquor Enforcement Unit.
The Victim Assistance Program is a Unit within the Investigations Division of the El Paso County Sheriff's Office. The Unit responds to victims of violent crime and/or their families, victims in crisis, and family survivors in cases of violent and sudden death. Victim Advocates provide 24 hour on-call assistance, are non-sworn, civilian employees and volunteers of the El Paso County Sheriff's Office who are available 365 days a year. These advocates provide outreach and assess the needs of victims, provide information and referrals about resources in the community, victim compensation benefits, and education and awareness of victims’ rights. Advocates work in cooperation with other community service provider agencies.