Investigation Unit

ABOUT THE CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION BUREAU

Once a police report is taken by a police officer the investigations section is called into action.  The Seattle Police Department organizes its investigative function along crime types and has a variety of specialty units. 

This specialization allows detectives to develop expertise that improves our ability to investigate and ultimately have offenders charged in the criminal courts.   Several of the units are on call out status, due to the fact that crime scenes such as homicides, robberies and sexual offenses are complex and require immediate processing, for both the physical evidence as well as witness interviews. 

Most detective units operate out of the centralized Criminal Investigation Bureau. The exceptions are the Burglary, Theft & Juvenile units. These are housed in the Precincts because the crimes they investigate often have a geographic nexus and because detectives have the added advantage of working with patrol officers, who often are the first to identify trends and patterns on property related crimes.