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The Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) can be seen at crime scenes all over Montana, assisting law enforcement agencies when local resources are stretched thin.

DCI reports that they are seeing a heavier caseload than ever before.

DCI director Mike Batista said, "There's some new crimes, but there's a lot of traditional crimes that we get asked to assist local agencies with."

Batista says DCI is handling the traditional homicide and kidnapping cases, but recently DCI has had to expand its expertise; he explained, "Just kind of the changing times that we're all experiencing with online criminal predators such as sexual predator offenses. We are working more of those types of cases. Certainly in the area of financial crimes, elder exploitation. We are getting more referrals."

With the increased number of crimes Batista says DCI has to prioritize.

He says they focus on cases which need immediate attention first, such as a kidnapping or a crime scene with evidence that needs to be preserved.

Batista also says crimes against children take top priority.

Batista said, "We want to make sure that our caseload doesn't exceed our resources. In some situations it probably has. We get a little bit of a delay in our response and our ability to get cases completed and get them to prosecutors in a timely fashion."

Batista says by and large the turn-around time is adequate, but adds that they are closely monitoring that to make sure the justice system works quickly and fairly.

The agency has 20 regular investigators and 24 narcotics investigators.

The DCI is made up of four bureaus:

Investigations Bureau: The Investigations Bureau consists of agents working in a variety of capacities, including investigating computer-aided crime, Medicaid fraud, the Montana Fire Marshal's Office, and agents who assist Montana law enforcement agencies in a wide variety of investigations. The Investigations Bureau also runs the state's Sexual or Violent Offender Registry (SVOR), an on-line, searchable, public database of offenders.

Investigative Support Bureau: The Investigative Support Bureau is home to Montana's statewide criminal information databases.

Academy Bureau: The Montana Law Enforcement Academy Bureau is the premier law enforcement training Academy in Montana, offering state-of-the-art instruction for law enforcement officers from city police to probation and parole.

Narcotics Bureau: The Narcotics Bureau is a statewide drug enforcement agency that initiates and conducts all types of dangerous drug investigations throughout Montana.

ONLINE: MT DCI