Investigative Services

Assistant Chief Ken Merchant: 325-676-6600

Send E-Mail to ken.merchant@abilenetx.com

| Identification Division | Crime Analysis |

Criminal Investigation Division

Contact: Lt. David Watkins 325-676-6611

Send E Mail to david.watkins@abilenetx.com

The Criminal Investigation Division (CID) includes several functions in addition to the traditional detective squads. The Crime Stoppers program for Abilene and Taylor County is attached to CID. The Abilene Taylor County Child Advocacy Center is also attached to CID. Crime Analysis and the Identification Unit operate under the CID umbrella. The more traditional investigation roles are divided into three units: Crime Against Persons, Crime Against Property, and Fraud. The thirty-three employees of CID include one Lieutenant, four Sergeants, nineteen Detectives, one Crime Stoppers Coordinator, two Crime Annalist, two Forensic Specialist, one Child Advocacy Center Director and three Administrative Clerks.

The Persons Unit investigates offenses such as homicide, sexual assault, robbery, assault, harassment, etc. in which a person is injured, endangered, or threatened. Homicides and robberies are the more publicized of these crimes. Fortunately, they do not comprise the majority of the work load. Many of these crimes are fights and family violence that require a great deal of arbitration and interviewing to resolve. They also include physical and sexual abuse of children, and two of the unit's eight detectives are assigned to the Child Advocacy Center. They work exclusively on child abuse cases.

The Property Unit investigates crimes such as burglaries, car burglaries, theft, criminal mischief, etc.. The seven detectives in this unit constantly try to identify crime trends and intervene in addition to solving numerous individual offenses. One of the Property detectives is assigned to inspect Pawn Shops and maintain up-to-date files on pawned items. This program alone recovers $80,000 to $100,000 of stolen property each year. Even when criminal prosecution is not possible, the unit strives to help victims recover their loss.

The Fraud Unit investigates forgeries, credit card abuse, scams and other related offenses. The three Fraud detectives do not investigate hot checks. The District Attorney's Office handles all hot checks. Check forgeries and abuse of credit/debit cards involve lengthy paper trails for detectives to pursue. They also rely on fingerprints, handwriting analysis, and seasoned interviewing skills. Fraud detectives are also active in education and information sharing among local businesses to help minimize loss to fraud.

The Crime Stoppers Program is designed to obtain information from those sources that have knowledge about Felony crimes, but are reluctant, for whatever reason, to come forward. Crime Stoppers offers these individuals anonymity and a financial reward for the information they provide. The main purpose of the Crime Stoppers program is to obtain information on felony cases through sources not available to case investigators.

Abilene Crime Stoppers, Inc. will continue to help solve felony crimes and increase the amount of stolen property recovered and the amount of narcotics confiscated through public awareness advertising. Crime Stoppers, will help solve juvenile crimes in our public school system through Campus Crime Stoppers Programs. For more information on the Crime Stoppers program you can visit the Crime Stoppers Web Site at http://www.abilenecrimestoppers.com

CID is assigned over thirty-six hundred cases for follow-up investigation annually. That is only a small portion of offenses reported. In some cases, the responding patrol officer completed the investigation and did not require a detective. The department also employs a system to prioritize criminal investigations. It is accomplished by applying solvability factors to each case report. All major cases such as murder, sexual assault, robbery or property loss over $10,000 are automatically assigned. Other factors considered in the prioritization process include the known identity of the offender, the presence of witnesses, the presence of physical evidence, and the possibility of tracing property. In other words, the major cases and those most likely to be solved are assigned first. While this system is not perfect, it helps focus efforts on the most serious crime problems of the community. Patrol officers and detectives are encouraged to be candid about the solvability of each case in order to provide a realistic expectation of services.

The general working hours of CID and the Advocacy Center are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.. However, all detectives have the opportunity to change their schedules for reasonable needs of victims and witnesses. Also, all detectives respond to emergency calls relating to their assignment. The phone number for Criminal Investigations is 325-676-6610. The Child Advocacy Center phone number is 325-738-8060. These numbers are only answered during the day. For emergency police services call 911. For the initial reporting of non-emergency crimes call 325-676-8331. The mailing address for the Abilene Police Department is P.O. Box 174, Abilene, Texas, 79604-0174.

Youth Division
Visit the APD Youth Division Web Site

Contact: Lt. Brad Wilson - 325-676-6641

Send E-Mail to brad.wilson@abilenetx.com

The Youth Division is comprised of fourteen personnel; four Investigators, seven School Resource Officers two Sergeants, one Lieutenant, and a Secretary. There is one Sergeant over the investigators and one Sergeant over the School Resource Officers.

The mission of the division, in short, is to provide for the care, protection, and wholesome moral, mental, and physical development of children in it's jurisdiction. At the same time, the division's mission includes protecting the community from unlawful acts committed by children. The division is committed to these functions through effective investigation of juvenile crime, while stressing pro-active programming that seeks to prevent juvenile crime. For further information on the Youth Division see their web page http://www.abilenepolice.com/youth/index.html

Special Operations Division

Contact: Lt. D.W. Havins 325-676-6650

Send E-Mail to dw.havins@abilenetx.com

The Special Operations Division of the Abilene Police Department was formed in June 1994 by combining Narcotics and Street Crimes into one division with two separate but interacting units. The mission is therefore two fold. Narcotics is tasked to make a positive impact upon local illicit drug trafficking and drug abusers to decrease the availability of controlled substances within the community. Street crimes is tasked to identify career criminals, repeat offenders, patterns of organized violence, property crimes, and to employ proactive methods to reduce criminal activity. Street Crimes also has the responsibility to recover stolen property, and to prevent some crimes from occurring.

By combining Narcotics and Street Crimes into one division, the department has increased the effectiveness and efficiency of both units by utilizing the current manpower and resources more effectively. Members of each unit are cross trained and can work either assignment, thus reducing manpower problems to a minimum.

The Special Operations Division is committed to the citizens of Abilene to help provide a safe community in which to live and work. We can accomplish this only by working together. If you have or suspect a drug problem or on-going criminal activity in your neighborhood, you may contact us at 325-676-6650. We may also be contacted through our E-mail address at abilenepolice@abilenetx.com. All information is confidential. You don't have to feel like a victim. We need your help.

Child Advocacy Center

Contact: 325-738-8060

The mission of the Abilene/Taylor County Child Advocacy Center is to lessen the trauma of the child abuse victims by providing intervention services at a central location.

For more information on the Child Advocacy Center visit their Web Page

Child Advocacy Center's Web Site

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`e-mail:` `apd@abilenetx.com`

Identification Division

Contact: Officer Clayton Daniels 325-676-6515 or 676-6516

Two sworn officers and one civilian staff the Identification Division of the Abilene Police Department. Duties of this division include processing of physical evidence for latent prints, and identification of these prints by comparison with suspects, if suspects are known. Latent prints are also entered into the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS), which compares latent prints lifted from crime seen evidence against the fingerprints of thousands of known offenders. Other duties require the examination of questioned documents, such as forgeries, etc., where they perform handwriting analysis to determine the author of a document.

The Identification Division provides fingerprinting services for the public upon request. They provide the service Monday through Friday from 9:00 to11:00 a.m., and from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.. There is a ten-dollar fee charged for this service.

Crime Analysis / Intelligence Division

Contact: Amie Miller 325-676-6623

Email To: amie.miller@abilenetx.com

The Crime Analysis / Intelligence Division is staffed by one sworn officer and one civilian Intelligence Specialist. Duties include, but are not limited to, developing crime patterns in geographical areas of the city and mapping of various types of crimes to show crime patterns. Predictions of high crime areas are attempted so that the patrol division may employ directed patrol methods.

Other duties of the Crime Analysis / Intelligence Division are to collect information from all of the other various divisions of the department. That information is verified, and then disseminated to other department divisions for their use. Intelligence data includes information from other officers of the department, officers from other agencies, information from informants, and data from offense reports.