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Investigations

At a Glance

Commander Capt. Jerry Webb

Employees 35
Organized Crime Department:
Cases investigated 783
Arrests 244
Search warrants executed 76
Criminal Investigations Department:
Cases assigned 1,316
Persons crimes cleared 64%
Property crimes cleared 30%
White collar crimes cleared 22%
Juvenile crimes cleared 74%
Arrests made 255
Recovered stolen property $661,000
Warrants assigned
to Investigators 3,903
Warrants cleared by investigators 2,407
Warrant arrests made 856
D.A.R.E, SRO and Crime Prevention:
D.A.R.E officers 4
Schools 19
Students 7,000
School Resource Officers 3
Crime prevention programs 169
Total audience 345,700

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Investigations

The Investigations Division comprises the Criminal Investigations and Organized Crime Departments, and the D.A.R.E, SRO and Crime Prevention programs.

The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) provides 24-hour Investigations services primarily through four units: Crimes Against Persons, Crimes Against Property, White Collar Crimes and Juvenile Crimes. Whenever possible, investigators work cases in the areas where they live to help establish good community relations.

The Crimes Against Persons Unit investigates robberies, homicides and other crimes of violence. A team of investigators arrested four suspects and charged them with armed robbery of the Belcher Branch of Premier Bank. Four masked gunmen entered the bank and made off with $10,000. Less than a week later, investigators arrested all four suspects and recovered more than $9,500 of the cash.

The Crimes Against Property Unit concentrates its efforts on solving burglaries, thefts, arson and property damage cases. Investigators halted the operations of several burglary rings this year. They arrested 17 persons for their parts in 41 multiple-burglary cases.

The White Collar Crimes Unit works closely with local banks and other financial institutions to solve forgery and fraud cases. They were successful in arresting the lone suspect of a bank fraud operation that involved 43 victims, including banks, department stores, mail order warehouses and pawn shops. The suspect netted more than $30,000 in the scams.

The Juvenile Crimes Unit interacts with social service agencies, adolescent health care facilities and youth shelters to address juvenile delinquency and status offenses. This unit solved about 74 percent of the juvenile crimes it investigated in the past year.

CID holds membership in the Caddo Parish Save Schools Committee, which addresses problems concerning the safety of school children. Investigators also monitor the Safe School Hotline (222-HELP). This Sheriff's Office-provided phone number gives students and other interested parties an anonymous way to report security risks, violence and suspicious activities around schools. The hotline has been instrumental in the apprehension of suspects involved in drug trafficking and burglary, as well as identifying members of street gangs.

CID has also expanded its work with domestic violence and is part of the Domestic Violence Task Force. The multi-agency task force comprises a network of people and resources in the law enforcement, judicial and social service sectors. The team synergizes members' talents to create community awareness of domestic violence and develops ways to train law enforcement officers in the skills necessary to investigate crimes that involve domestic violence.

CID investigators co-hosted a Neighborhood Watch program and helped community citizens that the initiative to set up their own watch groups. Citizens and deputies formed an alliance to combat crime in those neighborhoods.

The Organized Crime Department (OCD) is small in size, yet is responsible for investigating large numbers and types of criminal activity. OCD agents investigate narcotics, vice and liquor law violations, and they track gang and other group activities.

In January, a narcotics K-9 unit was assigned to OCD and was involved in 43 searches by the end of June. The searches resulted in the recovery of drugs and the arrest of 29 suspects.

In June, OCD went "on-line" on the Internet, enabling agents to monitor trends and activities such as militia groups.

OCD agents presented many seminars and training programs for the public, providing information on gang activity and drug abuse.

Agents participate as members of the Louisiana Sheriff's Association Narcotics Task Force, the Ark-La-Tex Task Force, the Caddo-Bossier Narcotics Task Force, DEA Task Force and the FBI's Violent Crimes Task Force.

In the past year, OCD agents, with the assistance of the Sheriff's Office Special Response Team, have executed 76 search warrants, conducted 783 investigations and made 244 arrests.

The Special Response Team (SRT) consists of volunteers from throughout the Sheriff's Office. When called upon, SRT members assemble into a well-trained and organized unit that executes high-risk search warrants and deals with hostage rescue, barricaded suspects and civil disorders.

The SRT counts among its members two certified snipers and several certified instructors. Moreover, the SRT is the only unit in the Ark-La-Tex certified in Advanced Hostage Rescue.

D.A.R.E. and School Resource Officers moved to the Investigations Division in the past year, as did Crime Prevention programming. Four D.A.R.E. officers provide Drug Abuse Resistance Education to some 7,000 Kindergarten through 7th Grade students in 19 public and private schools in Caddo Parish.

Deputy Carl Wilkinson served as 1996 president of the Louisiana D.A.R.E. Officers Association. The Louisiana D.A.R.E. Officers Association was named the best in the nation at the National D.A.R.E. Conference. Sheriff's Office D.A.R.E. officers made significant contributions toward receiving this award.

Deputies are a valuable asset as School Resource Officers (SROs) at Woodlawn, Southwood and Byrd High Schools. To better serve the schools and their students, the SROs regularly attend training courses that address school security, student counseling and programs to interact with students.

Sheriff's Office employees make crime prevention presentations on a wide variety of topics, including home and personal safety, ladies personal safety and firearms familiarization, drug awareness, Neighborhood Watch, fingerprinting and senior citizen issues.