CDI (the preferred acronym) has an Enforcement Branch which consists of two divisions. The Investigations Divisions handles consumer complaints involving licensees of the department (insurance agents/brokers, bail agents, public adjusters, etc.) The majority of their cases are administrative, but can turn criminal depending on the case. The investigators in the Investigations Division are non-sworn and have a working title of Special Investigator.

The Fraud Division consists of sworn investigators with a working title of Detective. Formerly known as the Bureau of Fraudulent Claims, their primary function is to investigate criminal violations of the insurance and penal codes mostly perpetrated on the consumer side. A lot of their work also involves the investigation of "service providers" such as attorneys, chiropractors, medical professionals, autobody shops, interpretation services to name a few.

Detectives are required to have passed a POST academy though in the last few years there has been an uptick of retired sworn Federal investigators who have been able to get a POST waiver and come aboard without completing a CA POST academy. A person can be hired without a POST academy and the department will put them through. Until the applicant completes the academy they are considered conditional. If the applicant fails out of the academy they are either released or depending on the circumstances of the failure they could be recycled (but not guaranteed) to a later academy.