Criminal Investigations Division

The Criminal Investigations Division provides intensive follow-up investigation of those crimes which are not resolved during the initial response to the call for service. It utilizes current state-of-the-art techniques and procedures to make a maximum effort to solve (clear) reported crimes. It also focuses on specialized crime areas such as organized crime, vice, controlled substance abuse, and intelligence activities.

The division includes investigations of:

  • Crimes Against the Person: This function is responsible for the investigation and prosecution of crimes committed against people such as robbery, rape, and murder. 
  • Property Crimes: This function is responsible for the investigation and prosecution of crimes committed against property such as burglary, destruction of property, arson, and larceny.
  • White Collar Crime: This function is responsible for the investigation and prosecution of "white collar" crimes such as fraud, embezzlement, and bad checks.
  • Internal Affairs: This function is responsible for conducting Internal Affairs Investigations through direction of the Sheriff.
  • Applicant Investigation: This function performs background investigations and other testing for applicants for employment with the Campbell County Sheriff's Office.

Identification/Evidence Recovery

This function is responsible for the collection and preservation of all evidence collected from crime scenes.

Narcotics Unit

This unit is responsible for investigation and prosecution of all narcotic-related offenses. It conducts covert and overt operations in performing these functions.

Special Investigations

This is the organized Crime Component and is assigned the detection, investigation, and prosecution of groups of persons involved in organized illegal activities. This function also performs the intelligence function. This function gathers and disseminates information regarding criminal activity.

Captain Tracy Emerson

Tracy Emerson began his career at Campbell County Sheriff’s Office September 1, 1997 as a jail officer. Tracy served in the field as a deputy for 3 years, before accepting a position at Altavista High School as their School Resource Officer.  He worked in our schools for 2 ½ years until accepting a promotion as a Narcotics Investigator.  After approximately 3 years, he was promoted to Sergeant, serving in the Traffic Unit and remained in service there until 2008, when he was again promoted to Investigator in the Criminal Investigations Unit.

T A EMERSON

Tracy has a total of 15 years working investigations and major crimes. He was a member of the Special Response Team for 12 years and served as a sniper on that team for a majority of his tenure. 

Tracy is an instructor at the Central Virginia Criminal Justice Academy where he teaches firearms and criminal investigations to new recruits. 

When Whit Clark was elected Sheriff in November 2019 Tracy was appointed Captain of the Criminal Investigations unit and began that assignment January 1, 2020.