Most policing in Victoria is done by general-duties members at suburban and country stations. The headlines are usually written about a smaller, more specialised group: the squads of Crime Command. From the Homicide Squad investigating a suspicious death to the Counter-Terrorism Command monitoring threats to public safety, these units handle the cases that need deep specialist expertise.
Our newsroom has put together an explainer, drawing on Victoria Police’s published organisational material and parliamentary records, of how Crime Command is structured and what each major squad actually does.
Crime Command, in outline
Crime Command sits within Victoria Police’s overall structure as the home of most specialist investigative units. It is headed by an Assistant Commissioner and is organised into several divisions, each with its own portfolio of squads. The exact internal arrangement has shifted over the years through restructures and inquiries, but the major squads have endured.
What sits in Crime Command rather than in regional commands is, broadly, anything that requires expertise beyond a divisional detective unit can sustain. That includes serious violence, organised crime, counter-terrorism, sexual offences, and crimes against children.
Homicide Squad
The Homicide Squad investigates suspicious deaths, suspected homicides, missing persons believed to be deceased and a small number of other categories of serious violence. It is one of the longest-established specialist units in Victoria Police and operates out of the Crime Command headquarters in Melbourne.
Homicide investigators work closely with the Coroners Court of Victoria, the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine and the Forensic Services Department of Victoria Police. A typical investigation can run for years; cold-case reviews can run for decades.
The squad’s clearance rate — the proportion of cases that result in a charged person — is publicly reported and consistently sits in the high range for Australian jurisdictions. Cases that don’t clear are not closed. They are passed to the Cold Case Unit.
Sex Crimes Squad
The Sex Crimes Squad investigates serious sexual offences, including offences against adults that are too complex or large in scale for divisional handling. It also works on stranger-perpetrated sexual offences, predatory offending patterns and certain categories of sexual offending against children — though much of the child-protection work is done by the Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigation Teams (SOCIT) at the regional level.
The squad operates under particular care given the privacy and welfare interests of victim-survivors. Victoria Police has strict protocols protecting victim identity, and Victorian law makes it an offence to publish identifying details of a sexual assault victim without authorisation. Our newsroom adheres to those rules absolutely.
For victim-survivors, the Sexual Assault Crisis Line is on 1800 806 292 and operates 24 hours. The Centres Against Sexual Assault network provides counselling and support across Victoria.
Arson and Explosives Squad
The Arson and Explosives Squad investigates suspicious fires, suspected arson and matters involving explosives or explosive precursors. The squad works closely with Fire Rescue Victoria, Country Fire Authority fire investigators and forensic chemists.
The squad’s caseload includes deliberately lit residential and commercial fires, vehicle fires linked to organised crime, and the most serious bushfire investigations. Bushfire arson work is particularly resource-intensive and is sometimes handled jointly with task forces drawing on the squad’s expertise.
The Explosives portfolio covers everything from small-scale incidents to major commercial-explosives matters and is one of the squad’s quieter but more technically demanding workloads.
Armed Crime Squad
The Armed Crime Squad investigates armed robberies, kidnappings and serious offences involving firearms or other weapons. The squad’s caseload tracks the broader pattern of violent acquisitive crime in Melbourne and tends to peak alongside drug-market disputes and organised-crime activity.
The squad works closely with the Anti-Gangs Squad, the Echo Task Force (where active) and the Australian Federal Police on cases that cross state borders.
Cold Case Unit
The Cold Case Unit reviews unsolved homicides, long-term missing persons matters and historical sexual offences where new information or new forensic capability creates an opportunity to progress the investigation. Familial DNA and improvements in forensic genealogy have driven a steady stream of cold-case results in Victoria over the past decade.
The unit also responds to public information. The “Million Dollar Reward” cases — long-unsolved homicides for which the Victorian Government has offered substantial rewards for information — are managed in conjunction with the Cold Case Unit and the relevant investigators. Our newsroom does not republish specific case details from the historical Victoria Police news archive, but information for the public on rewards is available through Victoria Police’s official channels.
If you have information about an unsolved case, Crime Stoppers Victoria takes anonymous calls on 1800 333 000.
Anti-Gangs Squad
The Anti-Gangs Squad — sometimes restructured under different naming conventions over the years — focuses on outlaw motorcycle gangs and related organised-crime groups. The squad’s work spans intelligence gathering, surveillance, financial-crime investigation and the use of consorting and serious-organised-crime laws.
Victoria has both unique state-level organised-crime legislation and access to Commonwealth provisions through joint operations with the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission. The Squad’s caseload includes drug trafficking, extortion, intimidation offences, and the complex web of legitimate-looking businesses that feature in OMCG financial structures.
Counter-Terrorism Command
Counter-Terrorism Command is the umbrella under which Victoria Police’s terrorism-prevention and response functions sit. It includes investigative, intelligence and tactical components, and works in close partnership with the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, the Australian Federal Police and other state and territory counter-terrorism units.
The Command’s work is largely not visible to the public, and that is by design. What is visible is the partnership with community groups under banners like the Countering Violent Extremism programme — an area where our newsroom uses “programme” rather than “program” in line with Australian usage for community initiatives.
If you see suspicious behaviour you believe may be terrorism-related, the National Security Hotline is 1800 123 400. In an immediate emergency, ring 000.
Special Operations Group: a brief note
The Special Operations Group (SOG) is Victoria Police’s tactical unit, deployed to high-risk situations including armed offenders, sieges, hostage incidents and major counter-terrorism operations. Our newsroom does not publish operational specifics about the SOG. What is publicly known is that the unit works alongside Negotiators and other specialist resources, and that its members undertake selection and training significantly more demanding than general policing.
The SOG is occasionally called on for high-risk warrant executions where conventional policing tactics would create unacceptable risk to officers or the public. Beyond that general description, our team’s view is that the operational detail is not ours to share.
What this structure means in practice
For most Victorians, contact with policing happens at a local station, with a divisional detective, or through a general-duties response to an incident. The specialist squads are not the front door. They are called in when a matter requires expertise that a divisional unit cannot sustain.
Two practical implications follow:
- The right starting point for almost any report is 000 (emergency), 131 444 (non-emergency Police Assistance Line) or 1800 333 000 (Crime Stoppers, anonymous). Specialist squads are not contacted directly by members of the public.
- The progress of a serious matter — a homicide, a serious sexual assault, an arson investigation — is often slower than the public would like, because specialist work is meticulous by necessity. Charges depend on evidence that holds up at trial, not just on suspicion.
If you have been affected by serious crime, support is available. The Victims of Crime Helpline is 1800 819 817. The Sexual Assault Crisis Line is 1800 806 292. Lifeline is on 13 11 14 and Beyond Blue is on 1300 22 4636. 13YARN is on 13 92 76. For family violence, Safe Steps is on 1800 015 188 and 1800RESPECT is on 1800 737 732.
