Criminal Investigations Division Contact Information

Detective Sergeant Richard K. Drysdale

Detective Sergeant Drysdale is the supervising sergeant of the Criminal Investigations Division comprised of three Detectives and an Evidence Technician.  He is responsible for overseeing investigations conducted by the detectives, monitoring the Pawn Program, Volunteer Program, Internship Program and serves as the department representative to the Helena Area Crimestoppers and maintains the Helena’s Most Wanted Program.  He primarily investigates crimes against persons and property.  This includes Homicides, Assaults, Kidnappings, Burglaries, Thefts and Criminal Mischief.  He holds all the Post certification certificates to the supervisory level and has received extensive training in the areas he investigates.  He has been with the Helena Police Department since August 1989.  He began his career in law enforcement as a security police officer in the United States Air Force.  He finished his career as an Investigator retiring as a Master Sergeant.  He has performed duties and special assignments as police officer in the Patrol and STEP Divisions, and as a field-training officer responsible for the indoctrination and training of new police officers.  He is also a member of the hostage negotiation team that works closely with SWAT during crisis interventions. 

Detective Corporal Russ Whitcomb

Detective Russ Whitcomb began his career in law enforcement in 1985 as a GVW (Gross Vehicle Weight) Officer for the State of Montana, assigned to the scale house in Drummond, Montana.   After working in this capacity for approximately a year and a half and commuting to Drummond from Helena on a daily basis, he applied for a position with the Helena Police Department and was hired on October 19, 1987. 

Detective Whitcomb worked in the Patrol Division and the Selective Traffic Enforcement Program during the first 8 and a half years of his employment with the HPD.   In 1994, he was promoted to the rank of Corporal and served as the shift commander during the days off or absence of the shift Sergeant.  In 1997, Detective Whitcomb was reassigned to the Criminal Investigation Division where he has honed his investigative skills and techniques.  During the last 10+ years in CID, Russ has specialized in white-collar crimes such as embezzlement, forgery, Internet fraud and identify theft.   He is an integral component of the HPD and is considered the resident authority on these types of crimes.

Detective Whitcomb is also a certified questioned document and handwriting examiner.  He is a member of the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C) and the International Association of Financial Crimes Investigators. 

 Detective Chad Lawrence

Detective Chad Lawrence has been with the Helena Police Department since August 1999. During this time he has served as a patrol officer, Helena Housing Authority Office, DARE Officer, and School Resource Officer for Helena High School.

In January of 2010 Detective Lawrence was assigned as the Violence Against Women/ Sexual Crimes detective.  This position specializes with crimes against women; crimes involving child sexual/physical abuse, sex based offenses, and ensure persons convicted of qualifying sexual and violent offenses are currently registered.

Detective Lawrence has earned his Basic and Intermediate Law Enforcement Certificates. He is currently working towards achieving his Advanced Law Enforcement Certificate.

Chad grew up in Aurora, Colorado where he graduated from Overland High School in 1989. He attended the University of Northern Colorado before moving to Helena in 1995.

Chad has been happily married since 1997. He and his wife have two wonderful children. Chad spends much of his spare time with his family and enjoys playing golf as much as possible. 

Detective Bryan Fischer

A veteran law enforcement officer currently assigned to the Criminal Investigations Division of the Helena Police Department for the past seven years. Detective Fischer specializes with crimes involving child sexual/physical abuse, sex based offenses, crimes against the developmentally disabled, and ensures persons convicted of qualifying sexual and violent offenses are currently registered. Due to a noticeable increase pertaining to Internet related offenses, Detective Fischer was recently assigned to a federal Internet Crimes against Children Task Force working with state, local and federal law enforcement officers and prosecutors targeting sexual predators involved in child sexual enticement and exploitation via the Internet.

Detective Fischer was commended by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in August of 2006 for his work with federal agencies over an 18 month period pertaining to child sexual exploitation image investigations as part of the FBI’s Innocent Images National Initiative. Detective Fischer attended the 2006 Project Safe Childhood Conference in Washington, D.C., and 2007 Project Safe Childhood Conference in St. Louis, Missouri. The conferences promote aggressive law enforcement, training pertaining to Internet related crimes involving children and also to increase public awareness about on-line sexual exploitation of children. Currently Detective Fischer is involved in providing education and awareness to the Helena and surrounding central Montana communities in regards to Internet safety. Detective Fischer has received specialized training from various experts with the FBI, FBI Innocent Images National Initiative, Internet Crimes Against Children Training Program, US Attorney’s Office, the Montana Department of Justice, the Montana Division of Criminal Investigations, the Wyoming ICAC Task Force and the National Center For Missing and Exploited Children pertaining to child sexual exploitation, child sexual enticement investigations and identification of child victims.