COLUMBIA, S.C. — This week was especially busy for the Columbia Police Department's special victims unit. A 3-year-old died, and a man reported missing out of Columbia - was found dead in Fairfield County.
News 19 wanted to learn more about these investigators on the front lines.
"It's very sporadic, very unpredictable," Investigator James Fisher said.
When people hear the words SVU or Special Victims Unit, some of the most disturbing cases we often see on TV come to mind.
"A little bit of similarities, of course that's television, but we do deal with sexual assaults, we deal with domestic violence, we deal with cases involving juveniles, we deal with missing persons, elderly adults and people with disabilities," Fisher said.
The Columbia Police Department has three different divisions, property crimes, violent crimes against persons and their special victims unit.
Investigator Fisher said TV only tells so much of their story. Even if a case is solved, some scars don't heal.
"A lot of these crimes, they involve victims who have been hurt in the way where it is very personal to them," Fisher said. "You know, if somebody takes their property you can always buy a new piece of property, but when you're talking about a domestic violence, sexual assault normally those people carry those types of wounds their entire life."
Fisher has more than 20 years under his belt as an officer, but shifted gears to an SVU investigator in 2017.
"I enjoy people and from working on the street for so long, I didn't get a chance to see an investigation all the way through completion and we don't really know the outcome of what happened, so I really wanted see things all the way through," Fisher said.
Now, Fisher works with a different perspective. Since becoming a father, more cases hit close to home.
"Cases dealing with children those are very difficult," Fisher said. "I would hate to to the parent in that family of that child. It motivates me to really want to get them justice."
SVU crimes often make national headlines. As these investigators are solving the most tragic cases to hit our community, they're also fighting battles of their own.
"You have to get in the right mindset when we get the call, we just go ahead a mentally prepare ourselves," Fisher said. "Honestly you never forget what you see, you just find a way to live with it."
The special victims unit at CPD also works hand in hand with victims advocates.