The Criminal Investigations Division is responsible for the investigation of serious crimes such as assault, sexual assault, robbery, substantial larcenies and burglaries.
The duties include overseeing the collection, preservation, and processing of available evidence; interviewing victims and witnesses; conducting pertinent crime analysis; coordinating activities with other law enforcement and prosecution agencies; identifying and arresting offenders.
Evidence and Property
The gathering and maintenance of property and evidence is an essential function of law enforcement duties. At Mississippi State University, this function falls under the direction of the Criminal Investigations Division. The department has very specific standards and directives that detail the documentation of possession, transfer of custody, security, accountability, and disposal of property or evidence that comes into the possession of the department.
The Evidence Custodian is responsible for supervising the chain of custody relating to property and evidence. When the department comes into custody or possession of property or evidence in the performance of official duties, strict documentation and records are required to be maintained. The property and/or evidence is also stored in restricted access areas within secured lockers. Through these strict storage requirements, the evidence is maintained within a verifiable chain of custody that serves to protect the material from theft as well as ensuring the evidence will not lose its evidentiary value in a court of law.