Small town PD's

[Taylor13]

Do they have the IA and the CSI stuff come from the sheriffs office?

[Taylor13]

For small towns with less resources, do they usually call in the Sheriffs Office to say draw up the crime scene, and do the investigating, or if they need an IA done, do they do it, or does the Sheriffs Office handle it...

[Taylor13]

Ah.. I forgot about how some states have the state police... thanks for the answer Chief..

[crass cop]

some small towns will use the county resources if they do not have what they need, like SWAT, extra detectives, additional units for support, an "investigations" team, etc.

[Monkeybomb]

Depends on the Agency and the Agency that can help. Here the S.O. helps small agencies with major to relatively minor felonies. Homicides get a full complement of Detectives. Frauds, Agg Assaults get a Deputy. It's on the agency to ask for the help.

As far as IA's it again depends on the Agency. Most take care of it on their own. If there is an appearance of impropriety they may ask another agency to take over the investigation but they don't hand out punishment or determine guilt/innocence. Just a thorough investigation.

[orlandofed5-0]

For small towns with less resources, do they usually call in the Sheriffs Office to say draw up the crime scene, and do the investigating, or if they need an IA done, do they do it, or does the Sheriffs Office handle it...

Where I started out in FL, if it wasnt anything our defective couldnt handle it went to the county. IA was handled by the defective and chief. CSI went to Orange county, serious traffic accidents to FHP.

[ateamer]

If IA was done by an outside agency, it wouldn't really "internal" affairs, would it? IA investigates policy violations; an outside person doesn't have the capacity or authority to determine if an officer violated agency policy.

[TexasAggieOfc]

Yeah, my small town PD is paired with a small Sheriff's Office, so here's how it works:

Minor violations of department policy - handled by the Chief/Sheriff
Major "IA" Investigations - Texas Rangers

If it's a big enough crime for a CSI like response, we call in the Rangers. For instance, we recently had a homicide (first in several years). While our detectives are working the case, they still called in for assistance from the local Ranger.

[Taylor13]

Yeah, just not in my neck of the woods, they cannot even speak right, let alone investigate a crime scene. Actually, they call us some times to help them.

That's pretty sad you know...

TexasAggieOfc, how do Texas Rangers work, is it like having a State FBI or something like that?

[TexasAggieOfc]

Yes, the Texas Rangers would be our State Bureau of Investigations. They are a highly skilled and trained division of the Texas Department of Public Safety. Additionally, besides the Rangers being the lone son of their founder, Chuck Norris, the Rangers are also the only law enforcement agency in the country that can resolve a riot with only one Ranger.

[mikeymedic]

Yes, the Texas Rangers would be our State Bureau of Investigations. They are a highly skilled and trained division of the Texas Department of Public Safety. Additionally, besides the Rangers being the lone son of their founder, Chuck Norris, the Rangers are also the only law enforcement agency in the country that can resolve a riot with only one Ranger.

LOL, your thinking ARMY Rangers

Taylor. We have tow people in my department. If SHTF we call in the Sheriff's Detectives and/or CSI from the State.

[reils49]

Well, being from a small town Pd, I feel I can answer this.

No we don't call in the sheriff's dept. They are really dumb around here. I would lose every case if I allowed them to do my crime scenes.

I do, however, call in the NYSP on serious crimes to assist us. They know their stuff, and never step on our toes.

Yeah, just not in my neck of the woods, they cannot even speak right, let alone investigate a crime scene. Actually, they call us some times to help them.

LOL!!!!

You must be from the Southern Tier?

[nonickname69]

Well, being from a small town Pd, I feel I can answer this.

No we don't call in the sheriff's dept. They are really dumb around here. I would lose every case if I allowed them to do my crime scenes.

I do, however, call in the NYSP on serious crimes to assist us. They know their stuff, and never step on our toes.

I'm sure they feel the same about you too bud.

[CO1259]

LOL!!!!

You must be from the Southern Tier?

I hope you mean "Souther Tier" by that large waterfall over there...and not us Down Staters near "da Big City"

[Kabal]

The answer to your question is really going to vary by State.

Here in Ohio smaller departments sometimes rely on County Sheriff's Offices to help with major investigations. They also call BCI&I (Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation) which is a State funded agency. They have a crime lab which any law enforcement agency in Ohio has access to use and they have crime scene investigators who will respond when requested.

It also depends on how small the agency is whether or not they are going to ask for assistance. I work for a Sheriff's Office and we have a lot more personnel and resources than a lot of the small municipalities within our County. The larger ones handle their own crimes, the really small (like one full time officer or all part time) ask us for assistance with anything major. When you get a municipal agency somewhere in the middle sometimes they try to make their bones by handling a big case themselves. In that situation the case doesn't always get the best investigation possible but it's really up to the primary agency what help they want to ask for and accept.

In Ohio our State level law enforcement (Ohio State Highway Patrol) does not act as a State Police, they only have jurisdiction on roadways and State property so they do not handle crime scenes otherwise.