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).
The Criminal Intelligence Unit (CIU) is a newly created Unit of the Sheriff’s Office. The CIU deploys using the concepts and philosophies of Intelligence Led-Policing. The Unit’s main task is investigating violent prolific offenders, but is also tasked with investigating pattern crimes, property crimes, robberies, motor vehicle thefts and deploys detectives with the Beat Auto Theft Through Law Enforcement (BATTLE) South Task Force. The CIU works closely with other Divisions within the Sheriff’s Office, to include Patrol, Detentions, and Special Operations. The Unit also works closely with multiple outside agencies, to include surrounding law enforcement agencies, state and federal agencies and parole. Working with these internal and external partners, the CIU has arrested numerous prolific offenders and has closed numerous cases associated with these prolific offenders. The CIU also works closely with the District Attorney’s Office and participates in the STOP program, to ensure these prolific offenders receive maximum sentences for their crimes.
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office currently has 18 cold homicide cases and 7 missing person cases with suspicious circumstances. 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 or call the Sheriff's Office Tip Line at 719-520-6666.
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office practices Community-Oriented Policing. This means that our agency, along with other law enforcement agencies in the area, are committed to a partnership with the citizens of El Paso County to prevent crime rather than just respond to criminal activity after it has taken place.
The Deadly Force Investigations Team (DFIT) will investigate matters where, when acting in official capacity, a Parties’ law enforcement personnel:
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 Division, or "Metro VNI" for short, is a multi-agency, co-located drug task force divided into multiple units, responsible for specific enforcement responsibilities. Detectives assigned to the Narcotics Street Teams investigate, control, and prevent the illegal distribution, possession, and/or manufacturing of illegal narcotics and/or controlled substances. Their primary focus is on individuals, businesses and groups of individuals involved in street level and mid-level distribution of narcotics throughout El Paso and Teller Counties.
Neighborhood Watch is a safety program designed to bring together law enforcement agencies, community organizations, businesses and individual residents in an effort to deter and reduce crime in neighborhoods. As one of the oldest and most effective crime prevention programs in the country, it was created in 1972 and developed in response to requests from sheriffs and police chiefs seeking a crime prevention program involving citizens. Neighborhood Watch programs are an effective tool in fighting crime.
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.