Criminal Investigations Division

Fort Oglethorpe Police Department
900 City Hall Drive
Fort Oglethorpe, GA 30742

Division Commander: Captain John Lanham

The Criminal Investigations Division is comprised of one Captain, one Lieutenant, and 2 Detective Sergeants.

Detectives within the Criminal Investigations Division are responsible for conducting in-depth investigations of criminal cases and unsolved crimes. These cases usually require more time than what is practical for a patrol officer to accomplish on their shift. Our assigned detectives spent many years as patrol officers prior to their current positions. This allowed them to gain plenty of experience doing everyday police work before being asked to handle more serious, in-depth and complex cases. They now use their years of training and experience to aid them in solving these cases.

Detectives receive special training that assists them in successfully performing their duties. Some of this training includes interview and interrogation techniques, processing crime scenes, handling evidence, as well as other investigative procedures.

What exactly does the Criminal Investigations Division do?

The Criminal Investigations Division investigates unsolved crimes, locates and apprehends offenders, investigates juvenile related cases, provides crime scene and investigative support, criminal intelligence analysis, and provides assistance and resources to victims and witnesses. The Criminal Investigations Division typically works five days a week, but are on-call 24 hours a day and 365 days a year.

Types of Cases

Cases that our investigators typically handle may include assaults, thefts, frauds, burglaries, robberies, sexual crimes, domestic crimes, illicit drug investigations and deaths. In cases where a crime is very serious and complex in nature, our agency may also request the assistance of an outside agency and partner with them during the investigation, e.g. Catoosa County Sheriff’s Office, Catoosa County District Attorney’s Office, Attorney General’s Office, GBI, FBI, DEA, Secret Service etc. This is done because some cases may extend well beyond the jurisdiction of our municipalities requiring a lot of travel and labor intensive work, as well as prosecution that may involve multiple agencies and jurisdictions.

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