The Regional Transportation District launched its own five-detective investigative bureau on Wednesday, allowing it to look into crimes that took place on buses, trains and RTD property without relying on other authorities.

The bureau, the creation of which was first announced in January, will give the agency the ability to more directly work with victims of crimes and rely less on the resources of police departments, said Commander Brian Cousineau, leader of the bureau.

“We can now provide more of a frontline level of service to those victims. We don’t have to pass them off. They can come directly to us,” Cousineau said. “Sometimes people, if they call you up and you pass them off, they can feel like a burden.”

In addition to the four detectives operating under a lieutenant, the department also brought in a specialist to work in victim’s advocacy, helping guide victims through the criminal justice process and coordinate any forensic or relocation services, according to a Wednesday news release.

All RTD patrol officers received mandatory training in preparation for the launch of the bureau, ensuring they are able to comply with the booking process in each of the eight counties the agency serves, Cousineau said.

“We’re unique in a sense that we cover 2,400 square miles,” he said. “The way that we broke the detectives down is each one is assigned to a specific judicial district. Any cases that are generated by the patrol officers, whatever judicial district they come up through, that detective will be assigned with doing a case filing on them.”

Year-over-year calls for service dropped in every month through August this year, according to security metrics provided by the RTD. August marked the month with the highest number of arrests over the same time frame with 74.

The addition of the bureau will contribute to the already decreasing levels of crime on RTD transport, Cousineau said.

“Over the last 12 to 14 months, we’ve had a significant decrease in crime throughout our entire system,” Cousineau said. “Not to say it’s not out there, not to say it’s perfect, but it’s definitely improved significantly.”