The Somerville Police Criminal Investigation Division (CID), is comprised of several individual units including the General Investigations Unit, the Community Action Team1, the Gang/Anti-Crime Unit, and the Family Services Unit. All of these units are under the command of the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) Captain Richard Lavey.

The General Investigations Unit is responsible for investigating most serious crimes that are reported to the Somerville Police. Crimes gainst person and property are the most common crimes that are investigated by general investigators. The detectives follow up on most crimes where the suspect is not immediately known or arrested. These detectives specialize in interviewing victims/witnesses, controlling crime scenes, recovering evidence, apprehendiing suspects and preparing major cases for prosecution. This unit also functions pro-actively to deter criminal activity by utilizing data from the crime analyst which indetify crime trends to predict future criminal events. In addition to investigating traditional crimes, CID has specialized detectives assigned to bank robberies, juvenile crimes, computer crimes, and fugitive arrest warrant apprehension. CID detectives work closely with other local police and State Police departments and Federal Agencies including the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration. Two Somerville detectives are assigned to these Federal Task Forces.

The Community Action Team, under the direction of a supervising Sergeant, is responsible for investigating vioilations of the controlled substance laws. This unit develops information from citizens and informants, conducts surveillance of suspects, arrests violators and conducts numerous searches when authorized by warrants inssued by the court.

The Family Services Unit is responsible for investigating crimes against families, including domestic violence follow-up, sexual assaults and child abuse.


1. Previously named Narcotics Unit until Sept. 2021.