INVESTIGATIVE SERVICES

Investigative Services

Investigative Service Unit

The Investigative Services Division is responsible for the investigation of all major crimes, This division also investigates any other crimes that warrant an in-depth investigation as determined on a case by case basis. Investigators are assigned to one of the following divisions within the Investigative Services Division: General Investigations, Fraud, Special Victims Unit and Identification Unit. The Investigative Services Division is staffed during the hours of 8 am through midnight, Monday through Friday. The investigators are on call during off hours and called in when deemed necessary.

The General Investigations unit’ primary functions are to conduct follow-up investigations of crimes reported by the Patrol Division and to conduct Major investigations, such as Homicides, Suicides, Serious Assaults, Robberies, Burglaries, Fraud and Identity Thefts. The General Investigative area of the West Haven Police Department also includes the Forensics Division. The Forensics Services Division is responsible for the recognition, documentation collection, and analysis of physical evidence. Three full time Identification Technicians provide the City with 24-hour emergency service.

The Captain of the Investigative Services Division is Captain Kaitlyn Flavin.
Detective Supervisors in this unit are:
Detective Sergeants Ron Celentano
Detective Sergeant William Ciccosanti



Special Victims Unit

The Special Victims Unit (SVU) of the West Haven Police Department is tasked with investigating crimes of an extremely sensitive nature. Types of investigations the SVU is tasked with include sexual assaults, physical abuse/ neglect of children, missing persons, and sex offender registry compliance.  
As it takes a special person in order to investigate these types of crimes, the detectives assigned to the Special Victims unit are highly trained and professional. They treat their victims with the utmost respect, and work very closely with the Rape Crisis Center of Milford, the Department of Children and Families, Yale Child Abuse Clinic, and local hospitals to ensure that each and every case is investigated properly and thoroughly in order to bring closure to victims and their families.

Detective Sergeant Jordan Zwickler is currently the supervisor of SVU. 

Fraud Unit

The fraud unit of the West Haven Police Department includes many different facets of investigation.

Frequently Asked Questions

    Investigations handled within this unit include:

        • Bad Check Complaints Cyber-Stalking/Harassment
        • “Phishing” and “Spoofing” Scams Internet Scams
        • Investment / Money Laundering Auction / Overpayment Scams Identity Theft
        • Check Cashing Scams

        Forms
    Detectives of this Unit have provided some helpful websites to visit:

        • Verify a Connecticut License (Home Improvement, Health, etc.) Fakechecks.org – A bi-lingual site (Spanish/English) about fake check scams, foreign lotteries, etc.
        • Antiphishing.org (What to do if you’ve given out your personal financial information)
        • Ebay’s Spoofing/Emailing Phishing – Ebay’s tutorial on detecting spoofing/email phishing scams.
        • Free Annual Credit Report – How to obtain a free copy of your credit report. FTC’s ID Theft Site. This site provides information on what to do it you have become an identity theft victim. In addition, there is a 10 minute online video on how to prevent ID theft.
        • FTC’s ID Theft Complaint Packet – How to file an identity theft report, through the FTC, online. This completed report can be submitted directly to the FTC. A completed copy can then be brought to the police department.
        • ll.gov/" label="" type="url" target="_blank" href="https://www.donotcall.gov/" data-runtime-url="https://www.donotcall.gov/">National Do Not Call Registry – Register your telephone numbers with this free service to remove your number from telemarketer lists.
        • FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection – Submit a complaint about a particular company or organization.
        • Better Business Bureau – Non-profit organization for consumer protection. Identity Theft Prevention Site – Designed to help citizens prevent, detect and respond to identity theft.

The Detectives of this unit receive advanced training in numerous fields surrounding various specialties of fraud. The training is on-going and extremely in- depth.

Known Scams | Source – IRS.GOV (Internal Revenue Service)

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is! In recent years, thousands of people have lost millions of dollars and their personal information to tax scams and fake IRS communication. This page looks at the different scams affecting individuals, businesses, and tax professionals and what do if you if you spot a tax scam.

REMEMBER: The IRS doesn’t initiate contact with taxpayers by email, text messages or social media channels to request personal or financial information. In addition, IRS does not threaten taxpayers with lawsuits, imprisonment or other enforcement action. Being able to recognize these telltale signs of a phishing or tax scam could save you from becoming a victim.

Scams Targeting Taxpayers

IRS-Impersonation Telephone Scams

An aggressive and sophisticated phone scam targeting taxpayers, including recent immigrants, has been making the rounds throughout the country. Callers claim to be employees of the IRS, but are not. These con artists can sound convincing when they call. They use fake names and bogus IRS identification badge numbers. They may know a lot about their targets, and they usually alter the caller ID to make it look like the IRS is calling.

Victims are told they owe money to the IRS and it must be paid promptly through a pre-loaded debit card or wire transfer. If the victim refuses to cooperate, they are then threatened with arrest, deportation or suspension of a business or driver’s license. In many cases, the caller becomes hostile and insulting. Or, victims may be told they have a refund due to try to trick them into sharing private information. If the phone isn’t answered, the scammers often leave an “urgent” callback request.

Frequently Asked Questions

    Note that the IRS will never:

        • Call to demand immediate payment using a specific payment method such as a prepaid debit card, gift card or wire transfer. Generally, the IRS will first mail you a bill if you owe any taxes.
        • Threaten to immediately bring in local police or other law-enforcement groups to have you arrested for not paying.
        • Demand that you pay taxes without giving you the opportunity to question or appeal the amount they say you owe.
        • Ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone.
        • Remember: Scammers Change Tactics — Aggressive and threatening phone calls by criminals impersonating IRS agents remain a major threat to taxpayers, but variations of the IRS impersonation scam continue year-round and they tend to peak when scammers find prime opportunities to strike.

Surge in Email, Phishing and Malware Schemes
The IRS has issued several alerts about the fraudulent use of the IRS name or logo by scammers trying to gain access to consumers’ financial information in order to steal their identity and assets. Scammers use the regular mail, telephone, fax or email to set up their victims. When identity theft takes place over the web (email), it is called phishing.

The IRS saw an approximate 400 percent surge in phishing and malware incidents in the 2016 tax season.

Scam emails are designed to trick taxpayers into thinking these are official communications from the IRS or others in the tax industry, including tax software companies. These phishing schemes can ask taxpayers about a wide range of topics. Emails can seek information related to refunds, filing status, confirming personal information, ordering transcripts and verifying PIN information.

Variations of these scams can be seen via text messages, and the communications are being reported in every section of the country. The IRS is aware of email phishing scams that appear to be from the IRS and include a link to a bogus website intended to mirror the official IRS web site. These emails contain the direction “you are to update your IRS e-file immediately.” The emails mention USA.gov and IRSgov (without a dot between “IRS” and “gov”), though notably, not IRS.gov (with a dot). These emails are not from the IRS.

The sites ask for Social Security numbers and other personal information, which could be used to help file false tax returns. The sites also may carry malware, which can infect people’s computers and allow criminals to access your files or track your keystrokes to gain information.

The IRS does not initiate taxpayer communications through email. Unsolicited email claiming to be from the IRS, or from an IRS-related component such as EFTPS, should be reported to the IRS at phishing@irs.gov.

For more information, visit the IRS’s Report Phishing web page.

Tax Refund Scam Artists Posing as Taxpayer Advocacy Panel
According to the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP), taxpayers are receiving emails that appear to be from TAP about a tax refund. These emails are a phishing scam, where unsolicited emails which seem to come from legitimate organizations — but are really from scammers — try to trick unsuspecting victims into providing personal and financial information. Do not respond or click the links in them. If you receive an email that appears to be from TAP regarding your personal tax information, please forward it to phishing@irs.gov and note that it seems to be a scam email phishing for your information.;

TAP is a volunteer board that advises the IRS on systemic issues affecting taxpayers. It never requests, and does not have access to, any taxpayer’s personal and financial information such as Social Security and PIN numbers or passwords and similar information for credit cards, banks or other financial institutions.

Additional Recent Tax Scams
Scammers are constantly identifying new tactics to carry out their crimes in new and unsuspecting ways. In recent years, the IRS has seen scammers use a variety of schemes to fool taxpayers into paying money or giving up personal information.
Some of these include:

Soliciting W-2 information from payroll and human resources professionals. 

Frequently Asked Questions

    Also see:
Scams Targeting Tax Professionals
Increasingly, tax professionals are being targeted by identity thieves. These criminals – many of them sophisticated, organized syndicates – are redoubling their efforts to gather personal data to file fraudulent federal and state income tax returns. The Security Summit has launched a campaign aimed at increasing awareness among tax professionals: Protect Your Clients; Protect Yourself.

Frequently Asked Questions

    Recent scams targeting the tax professional community include:
Tax professionals should review Publication 4557, Safeguarding Taxpayer Data, A Guide for Your Business, which provides a checklist to help safeguard taxpayer information and enhance office security.

Phony Arguments
No matter how some things are sliced, they’re still baloney. If someone tells you that you don’t have to pay taxes, check out The Truth About Frivolous Tax

Arguments, where some of the more common false legal arguments made by those opposed to compliance with the federal tax laws are addressed. The page explains and rejects each contention, deals with frivolous arguments encountered in collection due process cases and illustrates penalties imposed on those pursuing frivolous cases.

How to Report Tax-Related Schemes, Scams, Identity Theft and Fraud

To report the various types of tax-related illegal activities, refer to our chart explaining the types of activity and the appropriate forms or other methods to use. You may also report instances of IRS-related phishing attempts and fraud to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 800-366-4484.

Frequently Asked Questions

    Additional Scam-Related Information:

        • Security Summit – Learn more about how the IRS, representatives of the software industry, tax preparation firms, payroll and tax financial product processors and state tax administrators are working together to combat identity theft and refund fraud.
        • Taxes. Security. Together. We all have a role to play in protecting your data IRS Security Awareness Tax Tips
        • Tax Scams — How to Report Them Criminal Investigation’s Tax Fraud Alerts
        • IRS YouTube Videos on Tax Scams:
        • Tax Scams: English | Spanish | ASL Phishing-Malware: English | Spanish | ASL
        • Don’t fall victim to tax scams. Remember — if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Online Fraud Forms and Instructions

Missing Persons & Firearms Unit

The Missing Persons & Firearms Unit handles all missing persons cases and also is responsible for Connecticut state pistol permit applications and other firearms related incidents. The missing persons unit works with the National Center For Missing & Exploited Children regarding high profile missing persons cases and abductions.

National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
For information regarding missing and exploited children from the City of West Haven, State of Connecticut, and throughout the nation, visit the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s official website at http://www.missingkids.com/

Pistol Permit Application

Please download and complete the following forms to apply for a pistol permit. 

Once you have a complete packet, that includes ALL the proper paperwork, you may drop the packet off at the West Haven Police Department RECORDS ROOM. Completed packet can be dropped off on weekdays between 8:00am-3:30pm.  No drop offs on holidays. Please make sure your packet is reviewed by staff. DO NOT just leave packet

Procedures and a check list of ALL necessary items are available on our website www.whpd.com.

City of West Haven Pistol Permit Application Instructions and Check List
Pistol Permit Questions can be directed to Det. Aklin at 203-937-3929. Please do not call the Police Department once your application is submitted. You will be contacted once your application process is completed.

(Ck or MO must be dated no more than 30 days prior of application submission)

Identification and Crime Scene Unit

The Identification and Crime Scene Unit is responsible for the recognition, documentation, collection, preservation and analysis of physical evidence. The unit is currently staffed by three (3) full-time officers, who provide the city with 24-hour service. 

Members of this unit have extensive training and experience in crime scene investigation, including bloodstain pattern analysis, finger and palm print analysis/comparison, shooting reconstruction and crime scene reconstruction and have been qualified as expert witnesses in many of these areas by courts of law. 

This unit follows the principle that knowledge in and of itself serves no humanitarian purpose if it is not shared with those who wish to acquire it. The ICSU works closely with the internship program at the University of New Haven. Through this internship, students interested in crime scene investigation have the opportunity to work in a specialized unit of the West Haven Police Department that is highly respected in the legal and law enforcement communities. Student interns are given a hands-on approach to practical techniques utilized every day in law enforcement investigations. 

Personnel

Detective Tammy Murray 
Detective Brian Bogert
Detective Michael Vivenzio
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