Police Department | Criminal Investigations
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The Criminal Investigations Division
is a Support unit to Uniformed Services.
The function of CID is to review and investigate
reports of felony and misdemeanor criminal
acts, identify suspects, both adult and
juvenile, and prepare cases for prosecution
with the DA's office. Investigative work
is re-active from reports with the identification,
arrest and prosecution of suspects. It
is also pro-active through the prevention
of criminal acts in their identification
of suspects. The Division is made up of
the following squads: Homicide/Robbery,
Burglary/Theft/Pawn Shops, Auto theft,
Financial Crimes, Juvenile/Special Victims,
Criminal Intelligence, Narcotics, Scientific
Investigations Unit (SIU), and District
Court Liaison. The Polygraph and Bomb
Squad are under the control of CID.
How Is A Case Assigned?
All criminal reports made to the Topeka
Police Department are sent to the Criminal
Investigations Unit for review. These
reports are distributed to the appropriate
investigative unit that handles that type
of crime. The unit sergeant will review
all the facts of the case and based on
the information contained in the report,
that would lead detectives toward the
identity of the suspect.
Some of the factors used to decide an
assignment are clear descriptions that
will identify the perpetrator, license
tag information, direct knowledge of who
committed the crime, physical evidence
that can identify the suspect, or witnesses
who are able to identify the suspect.
There may be other factors that will also
be used to determine assignment. Citizens
who are victims of crimes should contact
the Criminal Investigations Division should
additional information become available
that was not given to the officer at the
time of the report. This would also assist
in the determination of assignment.
There are also occasions a report will
contain all the necessary information
that clearly establishes a crime and identity
of the perpetrator. Those cases are then
reviewed to ensure completeness and then
are forwarded directly to the District
Attorney's office or the City Attorney's
office with a request for prosecution.
An attorney from either prosecutors office
will review the case and should all necessary
legal requirements be met, will file the
case with the courts for prosecution.
When a case is assigned for investigation,
the assigned detective will contact the
victim of the case within 48 hours of
receiving the assignment. During the course
of the investigation, the detective will
contact the victim and update them on
the progress of the case. When a final
conclusion is reached the detective will
contact the victim and advise them the
case was completed and the final disposition.
In those instances where no information
was developed for prosecution, the case
will be considered inactive. Should new
information be developed, the case can
be reopened for additional investigation.
To inquire on the status of any case,
the victim can call the Criminal Investigations
Division at 368-9400.
Burglary/Theft/Pawn/Auto Theft
Unit
This unit is comprised of a sergeant and
eight detectives. The unit is charged
with investigations involving the burglaries
to businesses, residences and vehicles.
They also investigate thefts of property
and cases involving criminal damage to
property, both felony and misdemeanor.
Cases are assigned for investigation to
detectives that follow the assignment
criteria.
The Auto Theft unit has two assigned detectives
that handle the reports of stolen vehicles
and the recovery process of vehicles.
They will investigate the theft of the
vehicle and should the vehicle be recovered,
will handle the release procedures.
One detective in this unit is assigned
to the Pawn Shop Detail. He works closely
with the area pawn shops in recovering
any reported stolen property that may
have been pawned.
This unit and any detective assigned to
it may be contacted by calling the Criminal
Investigations Division at 368-9400.
Financial Crimes Unit
This unit is comprised of a sergeant and
four detectives. The Financial Crimes
unit investigates cases involving checks
that have been reported stolen and are
later passed in area businesses. They
also handle cases involving the unlawful
use of a reported stolen credit card.
This unit is staffed with four detectives.
The unit also has one detective assigned
who is the department's handwriting analyst.
He assists on these types of investigations
by examining known handwriting samples
of suspects believed to have passed forged
documents and prepares reports for court
presentation.
This unit and any detective assigned may
be contacted by calling the Criminal Investigations
Division at 368-9400.
Narcotics Unit
This unit is comprised of one sergeant,
one corporal and nine officers who work
narcotics law violations. They pursue
investigations on known drug offenders
and follow up on any reported drug activity
received from the community. Four of these
officers also are used to handle and track
gang activity when encountered.
Two of the officers assigned to this unit
are members of the FBI Violent Crimes
Strike Force. This group is comprised
of officers from local jurisdictions that
work under the control of the FBI to combat
drug and violent crimes from known repeat
offenders. The purpose of this unit is
to send repeat violent and drug offenders
to the Federal judicial system to enhance
mandatory prison terms if convicted.
To report any drug activity you may call
the Criminal Investigations Division at
368-9400 or directly to the Narcotics
unit at 368-9030 or 368-9418.
The Criminal Intelligence unit is also
a part of the Narcotics unit and is staffed
by two detectives. Their job is to collate
all intelligence information that comes
into the police department and ensure
it is distributed to the correct investigative
unit. They keep all officers of the department
apprised of crime trends and possible
offenders.
Homicide/Robbery
The Homicide/Robbery unit consists of
one sergeant and seven detectives. This
unit is responsible for working cases
including homicides, robberies, shootings,
stabbings, drive-by shootings, assault
and battery, suicides and suspicious deaths.
The sergeant of the unit reviews the cases
for assignment. Some cases are assigned
to detectives for follow up and others
may be sent to the District or City Attorney
for charges. A few cases that have little
chance of being solved will not be assigned
for follow up unless new information or
leads are developed. The members of the
Homicide/Robbery unit can be reached at
368-9400.
Juvenile/Special Victims
The Juvenile/Special Victims unit consists of one sergeant and six detectives. This unit is responsible for working cases of all types where juveniles (people under the age of 18) are the suspect(s) in the case. The unit investigates all missing persons cases. The unit is responsible for working all sexual assaults committed by adult suspect(s) and all child abuse cases. All sexual assault and child abuse cases are assigned to a detective for follow up. Members of this unit work closely with several agencies, including SRS and Battered Women's Task Force, that are supportive to victims of these cases. The sergeant of the unit reviews cases for assignment. Some cases are assigned to a detective for follow up and others may be sent to the District or City Attorney for charges. Because the unit deals with juveniles, SRS will receive referrals on those cases that fall under that agencies? jurisdiction. A few cases will not be assigned for follow up unless new information or leads are developed. The members of the unit can be reached at 368-9400.
Scientific Investigation Unit
This unit consists of three sergeants and nine officers. The unit is manned 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. SIU collects and preserves evidence collected at crime scenes. Three members of the unit are latent fingerprint examiners. The members of SIU can be reached at 368-9467.
