Discussion»Questions»Legal» A 2-part question: why were robbery and homicide combined in one detective unit in police departments, and is it still being done that way?
The only place I've heard of that happening is in LA (and I ran across it in the Harry Bosch stories). The following extract from the LAPD website shows that the division is broken up into separate parts, each under its own lieutenant, and each dealing with a particular type of crime. There are divisional meetings from time to time in order to keep each other apprised about what is going on.
While you'd think that specialist Robbery and Homicide divisions would work best this is apparently LA's method of utilising their detectives and it seems to work for them.
Dunno if that helps.
QUOTE Established in 1969 by combining the once separate Robbery Division and Homicide Division, today’s Robbery-Homicide Division is comprised of approximately 110 sworn and civilian personnel under the command of Captain III William P. Hayes. RHD is comprised of five sections (Robbery, Homicide, Special Assault, Cold Case Homicide, and Special Investigation Sections), each under the supervision of a lieutenant and tasked with investigating or providing surveillance support for a wide variety of select crimes that are often high profile in nature. RHD detectives attend quarterly meetings with detectives throughout the City, where crime trends, suspect information and investigative techniques are discussed to ensure that investigations of a serious nature are shared across geographic boundaries. The sections also serve as liaisons between other law enforcement agencies regarding cases of mutual interest and, when required, orchestrate multi-divisional and/or multi-agency task force investigations. ENDQUOTE
