Although the Criminal Investigations Division (CID) was not officially established until 2011, its functions had long been a part of the Department’s responsibilities, albeit under different names and chains of command.
In 1968, the Department underwent a major reorganization, during which it created the Criminal Law Enforcement (CLE) Division to consolidate all the Department’s various investigative and investigative-support functions, including the Narcotics Section, Intelligence Section, and Texas Rangers. Over the following 40 years, the CLE Division would expand its responsibilities and duties to incorporate motor vehicle theft investigations, crime analysis, polygraph, crime laboratory services, computer forensics, electronic surveillance services, asset forfeiture, and various regulatory functions. Within this same time period, the Texas Rangers and Crime Laboratory Service were eventually transferred out of the CLE Division to form their own divisions.
For most of the CLE Division’s existence, its investigative, analytical, and regulatory functions were split between three major services—Narcotics, Criminal Intelligence, and Motor Vehicle Theft—which functioned independently from each other. Members would specialize in investigative work or support activities associated with their assigned service, with the chain of command extending up in a straight line to the service commanders at Austin Headquarters. Each of the three service commanders answered to the CLE Division Chief.
In 2011, the Department underwent another major reorganization, which had a significant impact on the CLE Division. Most of the Division’s regulatory functions were transferred to the newly created Regulatory Services Division, while its crime analysis functions were consolidated within the newly created Intelligence and Counterterrorism Division. The rest of the CLE Division was renamed the Criminal Investigations Division (CID), and the silo-like hierarchy of the separate services was replaced with a regional command structure. In the new structure, CID agents, lieutenants, and captains in the field were assigned to a DPS regional chain of command to work together to fulfill program responsibilities, goals, and strategies as established by CID Austin Headquarters. These investigative programs—including drugs, gangs, human trafficking, property crimes, fraud, sex offenses, and fugitive apprehension—became managed by two CID investigative sections at Austin Headquarters: Organized Crime and Special Investigations. Two other CID sections were also created, namely the Administration Section and the Investigative Support Section. The Administration Section was assigned a variety of administrative support functions for the Division, including supervision of the Training Unit. The Investigative Support Section was charged with overseeing several investigative support units, including Polygraph, Asset Forfeiture, Technical, and Computer Information Technology and Electronic Crimes (CITEC).