Special Victims Bureau
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the largest in the United States, is responsible for providing law enforcement services to nearly 3 million people. This service extends to 40 contract cities and unincorporated County areas. The Special Victims Bureau (SVB) is the unit that investigates cases of physical and sexual child abuse that occur within its jurisdiction. Cases of child endangerment, neglect, emotional abuse, and child concealment are investigated by detectives assigned to one of the twenty-four stations located throughout the County. These cases are not included in this report.
The origins of SVB began in 1972 with the creation of the Youth Services Bureau which handled primarily juvenile diversions. In 1974, the Child Abuse Detail became a separate unit tasked with investigating these specialized cases. In 1986, the Juvenile Investigations Bureau (JIB) was developed and contained the Child Abuse Detail, as well as other details responsible for juvenile diversions, petition intake and control and juvenile delinquency court liaisons. During the 1990s, the Bureau was reorganized to handle only child physical and sexual abuse cases. In October 1999 the Bureau was renamedto the more descriptive name of Special Victims Bureau.
Detectives who aspire to aid the children of Los AngelesCounty must pass an application and interview process before receiving training in child physical abuse, sexual assault, interviewing and interrogation techniques, as well as warrant writing. New detectives are paired with experienced personnel during a training period to further hone their investigative and interviewing skills. Detectives are in contact, often daily, with Children’s Social Workers (CSW) from the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), the District Attorney’s Office, other law enforcement agencies, medical professionals and various social services providers, all of whom add insight and training.
Members of SVB provide training in child abuse laws and investigations to new Sheriff’s Academy Recruits, experienced Departmental personnel, and other law enforcement agencies. Additionally, training is offered to social service providers, foster family agencies, schools, as well as many parent and civic groups. SVB personnel have been involved for the past several years in training new DCFS CSWs, in the areas of collaborative efforts with law enforcement and CSW safety in order to assist them prior to their initial field assignments.
The Sheriff’s Department has created a new Los Angeles County Regional Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement (SAFE) Team which targets sex registrants, child exploitation and internet based predators. The team is comprised of five sheriff’s detectives, one assistant district attorney, one Probation Officer, one Parole Agentand a company of Reserve Deputy Sheriffs.