Sedgwick County, Kansas Sheriff's Office Investigations Division

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Sedgwick County Sheriff's Office
Investigations Division

Captain Mike Oliver
Division Commander

The Investigations Division’s responsibility lies in the realm of investigating criminal activity within Sedgwick County. The division has taken a pro-active approach in identifying persons responsible for reported crimes, investigation of the crimes and the prosecution of perpetrators in the judicial system.   The pro-active approach encompasses self-initiated activities that include undercover operations for drug transactions, surveillance of problem locations for thefts and identification of career criminals. The division is also charged with the investigation of background checks for computer access, intelligence functions, adult entertainment licensing procedures, and others.   The Investigations Division is broken down into the following sections which carry out these assignments.

General Investigations

This section comprises the majority of the division’s staff and is charged with the work that citizens see as what a detective does. The detectives receive reports of crimes committed in Sedgwick County, determine suspects, evaluate crime trends, recover items stolen and bring the cases to a closure for prosecution within the Kansas 18^th Judicial District Court and United States Federal Court systems. They work in conjunction with different state and federal prosecutors to ensure the most effective prosecution of criminal cases.   Identification of crime trends such as “Career Criminals” or patterns of crimes are developed and special operations are implemented to curtail criminal activities.   Surveillance and other techniques are used to catch suspects in the act of committing crimes.

Forensic Laboratory

This section is comprised of three forensic investigators who are trained and have experience in methods detailing the condition of crime scenes and victims of crimes. They are highly trained in the collection of evidence and the art of preserving evidence found at crime scenes. A variety of methods are used to accomplish this by use of fingerprint detection and collection, photography, videography and trace evidence collection.   The investigators are trained in the use of specialized equipment such as lasers, alternate light sources, crime scene imagers and chemical means to detect evidence.

Narcotics

This section is responsible for the evaluation and enforcement of drug and vice violations impacting Sedgwick County.   To accomplish these tasks, investigators act on information gained through various means indicating persons involved in the sale, distribution and manufacturing of illegal narcotics and substances. To accomplish this, undercover operations are used to purchase narcotics, informants are utilized for information and search warrants are drawn to seize evidence. The section also investigates violations of liquor laws and activities within the adult entertainment establishments for county resolution compliance.

DEA Task Force

There are several narcotics detectives assigned to this task force with the Drug Enforcement Administration. This task force is made of local and state agencies within Sedgwick County and the State of Kansas and investigates intrastate, interstate and foreign drug activity. The task force is under operational control of the DEA and targets suspects for federal prosecution who are involved in large-scale narcotic distribution operations and high intensity drug trafficking organizations, which are outside of the Sedgwick County area, but impact or have ties to our community.

Intelligence

This section’s duties cover a wide gambit of areas of responsibility. It is the central repository of information gained from other agencies regarding criminal activities in Sedgwick County. The detective evaluates and disseminates the information to personnel within the department and other agencies who would benefit from the knowledge. Constant contact is maintained with other law enforcement agencies in surrounding areas for the flow of information. Homeland Security has become a very necessary issue within the intelligence section and is a continuous evolving endeavor to monitor possible terrorist activities, alerts and trends which could impact our area. This section also is a focal point for the licensing of adult entertainers in Sedgwick County and first time evaluation of applicants for the Kansas Personal and Family Protection Act.

Exploited and Missing Child Unit EMCU

The Exploited and Missing Child Unit is a multi-agency task force comprised of law enforcement from the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office, the Wichita Police Department and social workers from the Social and Rehabilitative Services Department of the State of Kansas. The task force investigates sexual abuse and exploitation of children and runaways. They also investigate Internet crimes against children (ICAC), which is an extremely pro-active enforcement targeting individuals who prey on children through the Internet. Along with these duties, the section has a computer forensics unit which can gain evidence from suspect computers which will facilitate criminal prosecution in not only Internet crimes against children, but can also aid in the investigation of other crimes.   These detectives are highly trained in the examination of computer hard drives for evidence.

Joint Terrorism Task Force

The Federal Bureau of Investigation Joint Terrorism Task Force is a collective effort comprised of State, Local and Federal Law Enforcement dedicated to investigate domestic and international terrorist activities in the United States.

ATF Gun Task Force

The Alcohol Tobacco & Firearms Gun Task Force is a collective effort comprised of State, Local and Federal law enforcement dedicated to investigate criminals for gun violations, career criminals and repeated violators of the law.