General Overview

General Overview—Detective Bureau

The Detective Bureau falls under the support services branch of the Owatonna Police Department. This division consists of seven members; a captain, detective sergeant, a corporal, five detectives and an evidence technician. The division commander is the captain who oversees the general operations of the Detective Bureau. The captain is also responsible for department professional standards, internal affairs investigations, and the property and evidence room. The sergeant serves a dual role as a detective sergeant and the commander of the South Central Drug Investigative Unit (SCDIU). The detective sergeant is involved in the day-to-day operations and has direct supervision of all team members, including SCDIU agents. The SCDIU commander also manages the Violent Crimes Enforcement Team (VCET) grant that provides financial support for violent crime and drug investigations in the task force area. Two detectives serve as school resource officers (SRO’s) for the Owatonna Public School District. Three detectives, including a corporal, are stationed at the Law Enforcement Center and specialize in areas to include child protection, property, financial and person crimes, predatory offenders, and internet crimes against children. All detectives, including SRO’s, investigate criminal cases referred from the Patrol Division. The detectives are a liaison to other local, county, state and federal agencies. All members of the bureau are cross-trained in REID interview and interrogation technique, CornerHouse—child forensic interviews, death investigations, search warrants, and are trained crime scene technicians.

The Owatonna Police Department is also committed to drug enforcement and violent crime investigations. One detective is assigned to work solely with the SCDIU task force and surrounding task force regions to include state and federal agencies. The evidence technician serves as a civilian in a support role to all members of the Detective Bureau and manages the SCDIU task force financial accounts. The evidence technician also prepares in-custody files for the Steele County Attorney’s Office. The evidence technician is the sole custodian of the property and evidence room for the police department and task force. In addition, the Evidence Technician prepares monthly crime data reports and is a certified computer forensics operator [Cellebrite].