The Criminal Investigation Division is responsible for the follow-up investigation of crimes reported to the Charleston Police Department.  In most cases, incidents of crime are reported to the Patrol Division where a report is generated by a uniformed police officer.  Those reports are then forwarded to CID for review and case assignment.

The decision as to whether or not a case is assigned to detectives is made by the supervisors.  Because of the volume of cases received, discretion must be used in making case assignments.  A number of "solvability factors" are considered.  Known suspects, physical evidence and witnesses are examples of solvability factors which greatly increase the likelihood of solving a crime.  Violent crimes, property crimes involving a substantial loss, or recurring pattern crimes are generally assigned even if no factors are present.