Cold Case Sexual Assault Unit

Cold Case Sexual Assault Unit Purpose

The Durham Police Department’s Cold Case Sexual Assault Unit investigates sexual assault incidents related to the SAKI Cold Case Grant Project. This involves cases that are dated before December 31, 2017. The Cold Case Sexual Assault Unit consists of two investigators and a bi-lingual victim advocate. They provide a trauma-centered approach during the investigation, prosecution and overall process of the case for survivors of sexual assaults. As a part of the grant DPD works with a multidisciplinary team that consists of SANE nurses, Durham Crisis Response Center and Durham County District Attorney’s Office.

Special Victims Unit Purpose

The Durham Police Department’s Special Victims Unit (SVU) investigates crimes of sexual assault and domestic violence involving intimate partners. They also investigate child pornography, child physical abuse, allegations of child neglect as well as any other matter at the direction of the Criminal Investigations Division commander. The Special Victims Unit consists of investigators who specialize in child abuse and sexual assaults as well as investigators who specialize in domestic violence. SVU works closely with the Durham County District Attorney's Office and the Durham County Department of Social Services during investigations involving children. The goal of the Durham Police Department is to make Durham a safe city to live in.

Case Exceptions

The Special Victims Unit does not investigate crimes committed by juvenile offenders that are not sexual in nature or intimate partner domestic violence. These cases are investigated by Patrol Services Bureau district investigators.