The Special Investigations Bureau (SIB) consists of four specialized Units dealing with various crimes. This Bureau includes Youth, Cyber Crimes, School Resource Officer program, Special Victims Unit, Sex Offender Registry program, and Safety City.
MIB consists of a lieutenant, three sergeants, numerous detectives, and a few undercover agents.
Youth Division
The Division's mission is to provide for the care, protection, and wholesome moral, mental, and physical development of children in its jurisdiction. At the same time, the division's mission includes protecting the community from unlawful acts committed by children. The division is committed to these functions through effective investigation of juvenile crime while stressing proactive programming that seeks to prevent juvenile crime and promote child safety.
The Division's Investigative Unit is primarily responsible for investigating all offenses in the community committed by juveniles. The unit does not investigate crimes against children unless the suspect is also a juvenile. The Unit also investigates all cases of missing persons reported to the department regardless of age. The Department has a trained, critical missing person team that is able to respond to any scene within 30 minutes. This team is also available to area agencies.
Cyber Crimes
The Unit is headed up by a Sergeant and employs 3 Investigators to assist with the apprehension of online predators and others preying on our youngest people. They work in conjunction with the Department of Public Safety Investigators, the Department of Homeland Security, and other outside agencies in working cases and making arrests of suspects who target young victims.
School Resource Officer Program
The Department has partnered with both Abilene and Wylie Independent School Districts to provide uniformed officers (School Resource Officers SROs) in the schools. These eight officers assist with helping the school systems with security and safety in the schools. The SRO program also assists with the school's Campus Crime Stoppers program, which has proven to be very successful.
Special Victims Unit
The detectives in the SVU Children Unit assist the Department in bringing justice for the smallest victims of crime in our community. The unit works collaboratively with the Child Advocacy Center to secure vital evidence for prosecution.
The detectives in the SVU Family Violence Unit deal with crime occurring in the family unit, which does not deal specifically with
Sex Offender Registry
The Sex Offender Registry Detective helps the Department and the State keep up-to-date records of the sex offenders living within the City limits of Abilene. Offenders are required to notify the Sex Offender Registry Detective of their location and if they have moved or are planning to move.
The Melvin Martin Center for Children's Safety
Safety City is an educational facility featuring a "child-size" town of miniature buildings, streets, crosswalks, functional traffic lights, sidewalks, a working railroad crossing, and a school bus. It is designed to teach children safety regarding walking, biking, fire, stranger awareness, and other personal safety as it relates to being a child.
Each year, the Center hosts thousands of children from around Abilene and surrounding counties to learn safety as they visit the Center for a full day of safety lessons.
A state-of-the-art fire education center opened in September 2009 that allows firefighters to teach home fire safety and to fill a room with simulated smoke, allowing children to practice escape plans and gather at a designated meeting location. Construction on a police education building was completed in March 2011. This building houses a new classroom with stadium-style seating and interactive learning tools.