Investigative Services

Mission Statement​

The mission of the Sheriff's Office Investigative Services Division is to provide follow-up investigation of criminal activity, solve crimes, enable prosecution of criminals, recover property losses and restore justice in our communities in a professional, efficient, and compassionate manner.

Units

The Investigative Services Division operates out of three primary locations: Headquarters, West Valley Station, and South County Station. To accomplish the mission of the Investigative Services Division, investigators are trained for general investigation and receive additional training for specific areas of expertise. In order to ensure that each crime is properly investigated by a detective with skill and experience, the following units are each dedicated to a particular type of crime.

Homicide/Major Crimes Unit

Investigates all murders, manslaughter (non-traffic related), questionable deaths, mayhem, elder physical abuse, significant assaults and robberies.

Sexual Assault

Investigates all sexual assault cases against both adults and juveniles. This unit often works in a multi-agency setting most notably with victim advocacy groups, the Department of Family and Children Services (DFCS) and the Social Services Agency (SSA).

Property Crimes

Investigates major white collar crimes, including fraud, embezzlement, forgeries, identity theft, computer crimes, as well as check and credit card offenses. They also handle financial elder abuse, grand theft investigations, and both commercial and residential burglaries. Detectives are also responsible for coordinating with other agencies in apprehension of perpetrators who cross jurisdictional boundaries.

Missing Persons/Juvenile Crimes/Child Abuse

Investigates and locates missing persons as well as investigate all juvenile crimes and allegations of child abuse/neglect.

Domestic Violence Unit

Investigates crimes involving domestic violence, and criminal threats. The unit works very closely with victim advocacy groups to ensure the safety and well-being of victims of traumatic events.

Hate Crime Investigator

This investigator is part of the Domestic Violence Unit and investigates all Hate Crimes occurring within Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office jurisdiction, regardless of the predicating crime.

Court Liaison Unit

Processes all general felony, misdemeanor, infraction, and warrant field cite cases with the District Attorney's Office and/or the Superior Court.

West Valley Detectives

Provides investigative services for all of the North/West Santa Clara County unincorporated areas and the contract cities of Saratoga, Cupertino, and Los Altos Hills. Detectives pursue all cases to conclusion from reports generated by patrol deputies, except those cases dealing with homicide, sex, or narcotics, which are investigated by detectives out of Headquarters.

South County Investigations

Provides investigative services for all South Santa Clara County unincorporated areas. Detectives pursue to conclusion all cases generated from reports by patrol deputies except those cases dealing with homicide or narcotics, which are investigated by detectives out of Headquarters.

Jail and Gang Investigations

Investigates all crimes occurring within the Santa Clara County Jails, with the exception of sexual assaults. This unit also investigates gang violence within the jail system, as well as all violent criminal offenses committed within custodial facilities under the control of the Sheriff.

Notario Fraud Investigation Unit

Investigates immigration service provider fraud in Santa Clara County committed by individuals without the legal authority and/or proper licensing to prepare immigration paperwork. Any immigration fraud investigation by the Notario Fraud unit is submitted to the Santa Clara County Office of the District Attorney for criminal prosecution.

Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement (SAFE) Task Force

A team of local, state and federal law enforcement officials dedicated to proactively preventing sexual assault crimes and keeping convicted sexual assault offenders off the streets of Santa Clara County. These detectives actively conduct compliance checks on persons who are mandated to register as sex offenders pursuant to California Penal Code 290, in order to ensure that registration requirements are met.

Human Trafficking Unit

Focuses on recovering victims who are being exploited in the commercial sex trade and/or forced labor throughout Santa Clara County and bringing their exploiters to justice.

Rapid Enforcement Allied Computer Team (REACT) Task Force

As one of the fastest growing and most serious economic crimes in the United States, REACT investigates elaborate identity theft and fraud related crimes.

Santa Clara County Regional Auto Theft Task Force (RATTF)

The Santa Clara County Regional Auto Theft Task Force (RATTF) is a proactive, multi-jurisdictional unit that augments already existing auto theft units.

Crime Scene Investigations (CSI)

Investigators possess a wealth of knowledge and experience. These detectives are well trained and versed in crime scene investigations. The CSIs process all types of crime scenes, either individually or as a team. Processing crime scenes include fingerprinting, photography, evidence collection, sketching, and providing critical testimony at criminal court proceedings.

Latent Print Examiners

Latent print examiners are highly specialized individuals who examine latent (unknown) fingerprints from crime scenes and attempt to match them to known criminals' fingerprints from county and statewide databases. Examiners manually check fingerprints and also use an Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) to search a greater number of latent fingerprints from crime scenes. Read more about the Sheriff's Office Identification Unit (SIU).