Victoria Police does not send a single team of detectives to every crime scene in the state. Behind the familiar blue-and-white divisional vans and the local Criminal Investigation Units lies a layered architecture of specialist squads, each with a defined lane, a command chain, and a set of criteria that determines when a case is handed up from general duties or local detectives to a team built specifically for that type of offending.
Understanding how that architecture works — and why it exists — helps explain both the scale of policing in Victoria and the reasons some investigations move faster, or differently, than others.
The starting point: local detectives and the CIU #
Most serious crime in Victoria is first picked up by a local Criminal Investigation Unit, or CIU, attached to one of the force’s 54 police service areas. CIU detectives handle the bulk of non-fatal assaults, property crime, vehicle offences, and lower-complexity fraud. They are generalists in the best sense: trained investigators who can manage a wide range of matters and who act as the filter through which cases either resolve locally or escalate.
When a matter exceeds what a CIU can resourcefully manage — in complexity, jurisdiction, or the nature of the alleged offending — it is referred upward to the relevant specialist squad within Victoria Police’s Crime Command, the overarching structure that houses most of the force’s investigative units.
Homicide Squad: the most scrutinised unit in the state #
Victoria Police’s Homicide Squad is one of the oldest and most recognised specialist units in Australia. Based at the Melbourne Assessment Prison complex in Spencer Street, its detectives investigate all alleged murders, manslaughters, and suspicious deaths in metropolitan Melbourne, as well as providing support to regional investigators on complex death investigations across the state.
The squad operates under Crime Command and is subdivided into investigative teams, each led by a detective senior sergeant. Each team is typically assigned a case and stays with it from scene to charge — or, in cases that go cold, through periodic review. A dedicated Homicide Review Team within the squad manages unsolved matters, some of which date back decades.
Cases reach the Homicide Squad through three main pathways: a direct call-out when a death is reported and assessed as suspicious; referral from a CIU that has begun an investigation and identified it as a suspected homicide; or, in some cases, escalation from a coroner’s finding that a death warrants criminal investigation.
Sex Crimes Squad: specialist training and trauma-informed practice #
Victoria Police’s Sex Crimes Squad investigates serious sexual offences, including alleged rapes, child sexual abuse, and offences involving exploitation. The squad places particular emphasis on investigative practices that minimise retraumatisation — detectives receive specialist training in trauma-informed interviewing and work closely with forensic services and the Office of Public Prosecutions.
Cases involving alleged child victims are frequently handled in partnership with Child Protection and the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, particularly where there is an overlap between criminal investigation and child welfare concerns. The squad also plays a role in online child exploitation matters, often working alongside the Australian Federal Police’s Task Force Argos.
Victims of sexual offending are afforded specific legal protections in Victoria, including suppression of identifying details as a matter of course. Our newsroom adheres strictly to those protections and does not publish identifying information about alleged victims of sexual offences under any circumstances.
Armed Crime Squad: robbery, extortion, and weapons #
The Armed Crime Squad investigates robberies, aggravated burglaries, extortion, and matters involving the serious criminal use of firearms or weapons. It is not the only team in the force that deals with weapons — firearms offences below a certain threshold are handled by local detectives — but when an alleged offence involves significant violence, organised planning, or repeat activity, the squad is typically called in.
The unit works closely with the Forensic Ballistics Unit and Victoria Police’s intelligence function, particularly where firearm use is assessed as connected to organised crime networks. Referrals to the Armed Crime Squad can come from CIUs, the Transit Safety Division following incidents on Melbourne’s rail network, or direct activation at the scene of an alleged serious armed offence.
Arson and Explosives Squad: fire as a crime scene #
Few investigations require the level of technical expertise demanded by a suspected arson or explosion. Victoria Police’s Arson and Explosives Squad operates alongside the Metropolitan Fire Brigade and Fire Rescue Victoria to investigate fires where criminal causation is suspected, as well as incidents involving improvised explosive devices and related materials.
Investigators in this squad are trained in fire behaviour and scene reading — skills that allow them to work backward from a burn pattern to a potential point of origin or accelerant use. The squad also manages matters referred by insurers through the Insurance Reference Services, which flags suspicious claims to police.
During Victoria’s bushfire seasons, the squad’s workload increases significantly. Investigators have worked alongside the Victorian Bushfire Investigation Team in multi-agency responses to significant fire events, including those that have caused loss of life or destroyed large areas of private and public land.
Drug Investigation Division: supply chains and street-level networks #
The Drug Investigation Division, commonly referred to within the force as the DID, investigates drug trafficking and manufacturing at a level above what local detectives would typically pursue. Its focus is on supply — the movement of large quantities of prohibited substances into and across Victoria — rather than individual possession, which remains a matter for general duties and CIUs.
The DID operates a number of targeted teams, including units focused on clandestine laboratories, importation in collaboration with the Australian Border Force, and the financial flows that support trafficking networks. It has a standing intelligence-sharing relationship with the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission.
Referrals to the DID can come from CIUs that have identified a supply network beyond their investigative capacity, from intelligence holdings within Crime Command, or from tip-offs received through Crime Stoppers, which Victoria Police operates in partnership with the community.
Anti-Gangs Squad: organised crime and outlaw motorcycle groups #
Victoria Police’s Anti-Gangs Squad targets outlaw motorcycle clubs, street-based gang structures, and other organised crime networks assessed as operating across jurisdictions or posing a sustained threat to public safety. The squad works closely with the Organised Crime Intelligence Unit and has access to covert investigative tools available under Victoria’s organised crime legislation.
The unit’s work frequently intersects with that of the DID, the Armed Crime Squad, and federal agencies including the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission. Joint taskforces are a common operational model — they allow resources to be pooled and jurisdictional barriers reduced, particularly in matters involving alleged interstate or international connections.
Who oversees all of this? #
All specialist squads within Victoria Police sit under the authority of Crime Command, which is led by a Deputy Commissioner. Crime Command is itself accountable to the Chief Commissioner, who is in turn subject to oversight from the Victorian Government through the Minister for Police, and independently through the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission — known as IBAC — which has the power to investigate serious misconduct within the force.
Victoria Police is also subject to review by the Victorian Inspectorate and, in certain matters, parliamentary scrutiny through the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee and the Law Reform, Road Safety and Community Infrastructure Committee. That layered oversight architecture is, in our newsroom’s assessment, one of the more significant structural features of how Victoria’s policing system is designed to remain accountable to the public it serves.
For Victorians who want to report information about serious crime, including drug supply, weapons, or suspected gang activity, the Crime Stoppers line operates around the clock and accepts anonymous information.
- Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000
- Sexual Assault Crisis Line: 1800 806 292
- 1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732
- Safe Steps (family violence): 1800 015 188
- Lifeline: 13 11 14
- Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636
- 13YARN (First Nations crisis support): 13 92 76
