CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS

Here we are starting into 2023 and I feel like 2022 went by in rapid fashion Where did the year go? As always, the Williston Police Department's Criminal Investigations Division was extremely busy this year. So busy, in fact, that we had to make some major changes to the division to even keep up

Some of these changes are as follows; both the Public Information Officer and the Community Engagement Officer were transferred to another division so that supervision of these positions would no longer be handled by the Investigations Division, thus freeing up some time for Command Staff, especially the Sergeants, to focus more of their attention back to Detective related tasks

Another change to help alleviate the current case load was to pull back one of the Williston Police Department's three drug task agents from the Northwest Narcotics Task Force and have him work as an Investigator in the Investigations Division These three changes alone have alleviated some of the daily struggle the Detectives go through to and keep their heads above water.

As of 2022, the Street Crimes Unit came into fruition It consists of two officers with a Sergeant overseeing the project This unit is housed off site from the Law Enforcement Center due to lack of workspace. The role of this Street Crimes Unit is to identify law enforcement needs within the City of Williston and then use proactive methods to identify, deter and prevent criminal activity. The Street Crimes Unit is a stand-alone entity, however, when needed, it also bolsters the capabilities of Patrol and Investigations Divisions when needed They have already proved to be an invaluable resource

The Williston Police Departments Investigations Division for 2023 will no consist of it's command staff, which consists of three Sergeants, one Lieutenant, and one Captain Three School Resource Officers, two Street Crimes Officers, two Narcotics Officers, one Intelligence Analyst, two Evidence Technicians, and seven Detectives. There is a total of 22 people in various positions currently assigned to the Investigations Division.

As far as major cases experienced by Investigators this year, they had all of the investigations you would commonly expect to take place in Williston, ND. In addition to this they investigated a murder-suicide, an extremely violent attempted murder which ended in the suicide of the assailant, a large explosives manufacturing case, and a rare Munchhausen by proxy investigation

All of the aforementioned cases and a whole lot more are routinely investigated by this Investigations Division staff while all the time still completing their own required continuing education training to maintain their Peace Officers Licenses They are also frequently educating the public at different events and helping out other area law enforcement agencies who frequently come to the Williston Police Department for assistance

I still feel honored and privileged to be able to work with the great public servants at the Williston Police Department Each of them putting the needs of society in front of their own

Captain Steven Gutknecht Williston Police Department Investigations Captain