The Criminal Investigation Department (CID), also referred to as the plain clothes branch, was the core of the force’s serious crime detection and prevention initiatives. Plain clothes work appears to have its origins within the Southern Rhodesia Constabulary, circa 1911 and there is evidence of a fingerprint bureau having been established as early as 1907. Immigration control had been implemented in 1903 and by 1913 the Officer Commanding the CID was the de facto Chief Immigration Officer. Since inception, the CID had its headquarters in Bulawayo. This was changed in February 1959, when the Headquarter element was moved to Salisbury to a set of offices within Morris Depot. The general structure of the CID was as indicated below:

• Headquarters Section

  • Forensic Science Laboratory
  • Central Criminal Bureau (Fingerprint Bureau)
  • Criminal Records Office
  • Firearms Registry
  • Deportations Section
  • Scenes of Crime Examination Section (Photographic Sections at major CID Stations)
  • Questioned Document Examiner

• Crimes of Violence (also known as Homicide Section in earlier times)
• Law and Order Section (created in the early 1960’s)
• Immigration Section (until 1954)
• Property Section
• Illicit Gold Dealing Section
• Drug Section – illicit and illegal drugs control
• Fraud Section – dealing in falsitas crimes
• Photographic Studio (major centers for scenes of crime photography)

Provincial Stations and those in the smaller towns would deploy detectives to investigate crime across the spectrum of the above disciplines. Each province was commanded by a Provincial Criminal Investigation Officer (PCIO) responsible to the Officer Commanding CID.