A Look At The Woodstock Police Criminal Investigations Branch

Friday, 17 May 2019 07:46

The Criminal Investigations Branch for the Woodstock Police handle all of the major crimes in the City.

WOODSTOCK - We conclude our Police week interviews at Heart FM with the Woodstock Police Criminal Investigations Branch.

Detective Sergeant Nathan Hergott says they handle all of the major crimes in the City.

"We are responsible for working with many members within the Woodstock Police service including the uniform front line officers, our crime analysts, identification officer and the drug and Intel unit. The responsibility that we have is to follow up on all the major crimes that occur, things like might be a little bit more prolonged that uniformed officers just can't dedicate all the time too."

The crimes the CIB investigate include frauds, robberies, sexual assaults, sudden death investigations and even murders.

Hergott says the CIB has been involved in some of the most notorious crimes in our city and will often work with other detachments, like the OPP, London Police and Waterloo Region.

"When you look back to the Elizabeth Wettlaufer investigation, that was a multi jurisdictional investigation, where the OPP obviously has a lot of resources that they can offer for incidents such as that, that require a lot more manpower and a lot more time and effort into it, so we definitely can lean on our neighbouring partners when needed."

Hergott says the public is crucial in helping them solve a lot of cases and people don't realize that even the smallest detail can be helpful.

"Little things such as license plates, people walking down a street at an odd hour of the night, little things such as picking out specific pieces of clothing footwear, markings like tattoos and piercing's can play a big role with positively identifying our suspects and moving forward with our investigations."

Hergott adds that the CIB is very dedicated unit that works closely other community partners in the City like the CMHA, DASO and the Children's Aid Society. He notes partnering with those organizations certainly helps to solve major crimes in the City.