The Major Case Squad is a division within some police departments. The detectives of these divisions typically investigate crimes beyond the scope of normal squads. These functions vary from department to department.

New York City Police Department

The Major Case Squad of the New York City Police Department

New York City Police Department

The New York City Police Department , established in 1845, is currently the largest municipal police force in the United States, with primary responsibilities in law enforcement and investigation within the five boroughs of New York City...

 is located at One Police Plaza

One Police Plaza

1 Police Plaza is the headquarters of the New York City Police Department . 1 Police Plaza is located on Park Row in downtown Manhattan near City Hall and the Brooklyn Bridge. Its block borders Park Row, Pearl Street, and Police Plaza...

 in Manhattan

Manhattan

Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

, New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. The squad investigates the following types of cases:

• Art theft
  Art theft
  Art theft is usually for the purpose of resale or for ransom . Stolen art is sometimes used by criminals to secure loans.. One must realize that only a small percentage of stolen art is recovered. Estimates range from 5 to 10%. This means that little is known about the scope and characteristics of...
  
  
• Burglary or attempted burglary of a bank or bank safe
• Burglary of a truck contents over $100,000
• All commercial burglaries in which the value of the property stolen exceeds $100,000
• Kidnappings, as directed by the Chief of Detectives
• Larceny by extortion, or attempted larceny by extortion, from a bank
• Larceny of truck contents over $100,000
• Robbery, or attempted robbery, of a bank by an armed perpetrator
• All robberies in warehouse depots, or similar locations, where the objects of the crime is a truck or its contents
• Robbery of truck and contents by hijacking

Saint Louis

The Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis was formed in 1965 and is a multi-departmental unit charged with investigating major crimes in six Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

 and four Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

 counties. The squad brings together specially trained, and highly experienced investigators and averages an 80% clearance rate.

In popular culture

• The series Law & Order: Criminal Intent
  Law & Order: Criminal Intent
  Law & Order: Criminal Intent is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it was also primarily produced. Created and produced by Dick Wolf and René Balcer, the series premiered on September 30, 2001, as the second spin-off of Wolf's successful crime drama...
  
  , depicts a fictionalized version of the NYPD Major Case Squad, one that investigates murders, which the real Major Case Squad does not do.
• The television series The Wire
  The WIRE
  the WIRE is the student-run College radio station at the University of Oklahoma, broadcasting in a freeform format. The WIRE serves the University of Oklahoma and surrounding communities, and is staffed by student DJs. The WIRE broadcasts at 1710 kHz AM in Norman, Oklahoma...
  
  features a fictionalized Major Case Unit within the Baltimore Police Department
  Baltimore Police Department
  The Baltimore Police Department provides police services to the city of Baltimore, Maryland and was officially established by the Maryland Legislature on March 16, 1853...
  
  . This unit is charged with solving excessively vicious crimes as well as crimes involving the major drug kingpins of the city.
• A Major Crimes Unit exists within the Gotham City Police Department
  Gotham City Police Department
  The Gotham City Police Department is a fictional police department servicing Gotham City, as depicted in comic books published by DC Comics, in particular those tied into the Batman books.-History of GCPD:...
  
   in comics set in the DC Universe
  DC Universe
  The DC Universe is the shared universe where most of the comic stories published by DC Comics take place. The fictional characters Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are well-known superheroes from this universe. Note that in context, "DC Universe" is usually used to refer to the main DC continuity...
  
  , dealing mostly with crimes perpetrated by masked criminals and supervillains.
  • A similar unit is depicted in The Dark Knight
    The Dark Knight (film)
    The Dark Knight is a 2008 superhero film directed, produced and co-written by Christopher Nolan. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film is part of Nolan's Batman film series and a sequel to 2005's Batman Begins...
    
    , tasked with shutting down the city's crime syndicates as well as investigating the crimes perpetrated by The Joker, and the capture of The Batman.