An inside look into investigations

The role of a detective is built into almost every law enforcement agency today. A detective investigates crimes that require follow-up work that includes talking to witnesses, interviewing suspects, collecting evidence and following up on leads. The use of detectives developed over time, but one of the most popular detectives in the United States was a deputy sheriff in Chicago named Allen Pinkerton, who started the Pinkerton Detective Agency in 1852. The Pinkerton Agency executed a wide range of tasks that included guarding Abraham Lincoln in Baltimore while on his way to the inauguration, to solving train robberies. Pinkerton also became head of the Secret Service during the Civil War. The Pinkerton Detective Agency had a slogan on the front of their building that read, "we never sleep," along with an image of a black and white eye. This is where the term "private eye" originated.

A detective in today's world must be trained in many different skills that include interrogations, crime scene investigation, evidence processing, crime scene photography, and report writing for long-term investigations. There are a wide range of chemicals and procedures that can be used to help locate and process evidence at a crime scene. Advancement in technology has brought the world of investigations to a whole new level. Dirt can be collected at a crime scene and compared to samples of dirt to help establish where a crime was committed, chemicals can detect where blood has been (even after the surface has been cleaned), and putty can be placed over surfaces to capture tool marks used for forced entry. One of the investigators here at the Sheriff's Office recently had a DNA hit on a DNA sample he collected from a finger print.

Depending on the size and location of a department, there are many obstacles and challenges that investigators face. One of the most difficult challenges for an investigator is the size of the investigations unit. In a large agency like the LAPD, there are over 15,000 people in their agency. The investigations unit has a large number of special units that focus on specific crimes like robbery, homicide, rape, drugs and the list goes on. In a smaller agency like ours, the investigators must learn to do it all. An investigator may be investigating a car theft one day and a child molestation case the next. Whatever the crime though, we have dedicated investigators here at the Vernon County Sheriff's Office that have a passion for solving crimes and getting the job done. Shortly after I took office, I asked one of my investigators how their day was going and they replied by saying, "Well, I just returned some stolen property to the owners, so I'm feeling pretty good." When we can solve a case and bring a criminal to justice it truly is a "pretty good day."