Investigative Departments Within Police Departments
According to crime reports published by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), more than 11 million crimes are committed in the United States annually. To investigate this broad number of crimes, many police agencies have different divisions. These departments each focus on dealing with a specific type of criminal problem.
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Homicide Department
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Homicide departments have the duty of investigating all deaths that occur under suspicious circumstances. Many homicide departments are also responsible for investigating the suspicious disappearance of any individual. Attempted murders and unsolved "cold case" homicides are other areas this department can be used to investigate.
Homicide detectives often work closely with other investigative personnel, including forensic experts. While forensic crime scene investigators focus on collecting physical evidence, homicide detectives deal with people and interview witnesses and suspects for each case. Once evidence has been collected and arrests have been made, the homicide department works with prosecutors to build a case against the perpetrators.
White Collar Crime Department
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The white collar crime department of a police agency investigates theft and fraud cases involving professionals as opposed to petty criminals. Often, white collar crime investigations deal with the embezzlement of large sums of money. Forgery and insurance fraud are other common examples of white collar cases.
The investigative process for this department involves interviewing different witnesses and collecting financial records from businesses and organizations. Because many white collar crimes are perpetrated over an extended period of time and in several, connected locations, investigators from this department must be adaptable and willing to work with agencies in other jurisdictions.
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Narcotics Department
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The narcotics department of a police force is responsible for investigating drug-related offenses. The narcotics department focuses on seizing illegal substances and dismantling the criminal connections supporting the drug trade. To be effective, narcotics officers must not only enforce common drug violations but be proactive in tracking down sources of illegal importation of the drugs.
In order to investigate the complex underworld connected to narcotics, this department often uses undercover assets and informants. The undercover aspect of narcotics investigation is particularly dangerous, as investigators may sometimes be surrounded by criminals with little or no direct backup. The ability to deal with ambiguous situations and deal with a variety of people from different backgrounds is very important for members of this department.
Vice Department
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A police agency's vice department deals with investigating and prosecuting culturally immoral crimes such as prostitution and illegal gambling. Vice investigators work to shut down access to these activities and combine traditional police work with undercover duty to gather information.
Vice investigations are often conducted from opposite ends of the crime and target the provider and consumer of illegal services. In cases of prostitution, for example, both the client and the prostitute must be investigated. This aspect of vice crimes means investigators must be able to deal effectively with different economic classes equally.
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References
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