Collaborative Crisis Services Unit

The Collaborative Crisis Services Unit (CCSU) is responsible for conducting follow-up visits for individuals who could benefit from mental or behavioral health services. CCSU utilizes community resources, including the Elgin Police Department’s own Social Services Unit, to connect individuals with appropriate services. This, in turn, may also reduce patrol calls for service. CCSU has three primary areas of focus: mental and behavioral health, substance use disorder services, and homelessness issues.

The primary model used by CCSU is a co-response model, which pairs a police officer with a mental health professional. CCSU currently has four officers and three mental health professionals.

EPD’s Collaborative Crisis Services Unit (CCSU), Crisis Negotiations Unit (CNU) and Emergency Services Detail (ESD) work together to respond to mental health related calls for service.

The collaborative response allows officers and mental health professionals to exercise tactics that result in peaceful resolutions, while also providing follow up check ins with individuals to ensure long-term mental health needs are being addressed and they are connected to the right resources.

Crime Free Housing Unit

The Crime Free Housing Unit partners with property owners, managers, tenants, and neighbors of rental properties to monitor crime and nuisance complaints in Elgin’s rental housing community. Weekly follow-ups are conducted on multi-week calls for service, and barred lists are continuously updated. Department officers showed up over 700 times to community events and engaged with landlords during training opportunities.

Drone Team

The Elgin Drone Team is comprised of nine members with Part 107 FAA certification, with at least one member always on call 24 hours a day. The team had approximately 65 activations with requests including traffic crashes, fleeing suspects, search and rescue, missing persons, suicidal subjects, armed robberies, burglaries, locating armed subjects, assisting other agency requests, and documentation of crime scenes.

The department strives for innovation with this modern technology and a livestreaming platform is used to present the drone’s vantage point directly to stakeholders on a call. The Drone Team is also exploring ways to use drones as a first response tool, being ready to fly at moment’s notice and in situations where a drone could prove useful in saving time, money, resources and increase personnel safety. Visitors from other policing agencies have contacted EPD for training, questions, and assistance in starting their own drone programs.

K-9

Elgin’s police officers are highly-trained to handle the many different challenges each day brings, but there is one trait that every officer lacks — a canine’s sense of smell. The department’s K-9’s are utilized to investigate clues that are only detectible to a dog’s nose, which can help officers find hidden illegal narcotics, missing persons, or fleeing fugitives.

Rex, a German Shepard, is trained in narcotics detection, tracking, area/building searches, and suspect apprehension.  The department will be adding a new K-9 to the unit in the spring of 2023.

The department also has a golden retriever named Chance in the unit whose specialty is working as a therapy dog. The department regularly responds to calls concerning mental health crises and engages in community outreach. During these situations, Chance provides emotional support to anyone who needs it.

Major Investigations Division

When a call for service requires additional follow-up or investigation by officers, it may evolve into a case for the Investigations division. The majority of these cases are assigned to detectives in Major Investigations, which is comprised of the Adult and Juvenile units. Adult Investigations handles the majority of EPD’s cases that do not involve underage individuals. In 2022, these detectives were assigned 874 cases, with the average detective being responsible for 62 of them.

Juvenile Investigations is responsible for any cases involving a person under the age of 18. The primary goal for juvenile detectives is to better understand youths who are engaged in unlawful activity and help them to discover healthier lifestyles. EPD avoids arresting juveniles when possible in favor of working with families, School Resource Officers, and community groups to provide a more positive and rehabilitative experience for troubled youths.

School Resource Officers

Elgin’s School Resource Officers (SROs) serve to establish a positive working relationship between the police department and school staff, including administrators, teachers, students, and parents. These detectives provide counseling to students when needed and are a point of contact in times of crisis intervention. SROs facilitate clubs and after-school programs to promote positive learning and development environments, and they play an active role in the Youth Empowerment Program.

Special Investigations Group

The Special Investigations Group is a proactive unit comprised of detectives who investigate drug and gang crimes.  The goal of the unit is to reduce serious crime that has a nexus to the possession, purchase or sale of illegal firearms and narcotics.  The unit conducts long term investigations, undercover operations and proactive enforcement.

SWAT/Emergency Services Detail

The Special Weapons and Tactics Team / Emergency Services Detail (SWAT/ESD) consists of officers who are recruited, selected, trained, equipped, and tasked with resolving critical incidents that require specialized capabilities and equipment. SWAT/ESD Officers are responsible for the execution of high-risk warrants and arrests, hostage, and barricade incidents. Specifically members of SWAT/ESD staff the “Emergency Services Detail” which works every day from 4 pm to midnight. This detail is staffed by SWAT/ESD officers who are readily available to be deployed immediately into any critical incident including the resolution of emotionally distressed persons.

Technical Investigations Unit

The Technical Investigations Unit (TIU) supports the department with digital forensic analysis and surveillance camera footage requests. TIU manages 461 cameras in the city which cover busy intersections and locations with frequent crimes. In addition, this unit is responsible for working with businesses and homeowners who have their own security equipment for the purposes of aiding investigation. In the last few years, home security systems such as Ring and Arlo have become increasingly popular, and footage can be released at the homeowner’s discretion to TIU when a crime occurs.

In 2022, another detective position was added to TIU to help perform digital forensics investigations. This work involves the acquisition and preservation of digital evidence found on cellular phones, computers, and other electronics. By expanding TIU with this additional resource, detectives will be in a better position to keep up with the tactics career criminals use to evade police.

Traffic Unit

The most recognizable function of the Traffic Unit is the investigation and reconstruction of crashes involving fatalities and serious injuries. The unit also oversees abandoned vehicles, hit & run crashes, overweight trucks, parking complaints, school crossing guards, selective traffic enforcement, special events, and taxi ordinance violations.

The Traffic Unit was involved with numerous education and community events in 2022, such as the Citizen’s Police Academy, the Fourth of July Parade, and Nightmare on Chicago Street. A total of 254 hit-and-run investigations were conducted, and traffic security was provided throughout the year.