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Attorney General Dave Yost’s Police Resources
Attorney General Dave Yost firmly believes that law enforcement officers are essential to a secure and functioning society. Dedicated officers protect our communities as well as our individual ability to pursue life, liberty and happiness free from fear and intimidation.
“The true face of law enforcement is men and women going out and trying to make their communities safe,” Yost says. “They show valor every time they put a badge on their chest, which can turn into a target on their backs.”
Too often nowadays, though, the face of law enforcement is represented by viral videos of officers hurting people. These officers do not represent the majority — the many hard-working, goodhearted people who got into policing to safeguard neighbors and fix problems, not create them.
The following information is offered in support of and as a service to law enforcement officers throughout Ohio.
A ‘force multiplier’ for local law enforcement agencies
The Ohio Attorney General’s Office (AGO) provides high-tech resources and collaborative problem-solving that can greatly augment the crime-fighting abilities of Ohio’s 900 local law enforcement agencies statewide — which is why Attorney General Dave Yost likes to refer to his office as a “force multipler.”
All of the resources — from equipment and services to specialized expertise and more — are free. The key for the Attorney General’s Office is making sure that local agencies are aware of the array of assistance available.
This factsheet provides a rundown of how we can help.
Officer-Involved Critical Incident (OICI) investigations
To build trust in law enforcement, Attorney General Yost believes the public must be able to have faith that officer-involved shootings will be fairly investigated. Such credibility can be gained through OICI investigations that are thorough and fair, independent and transparent.
“Officer-involved critical incidents are just that: critical. The life-or-death ramifications impact not only those involved and their families but also the agencies involved and the community.”
The Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) has developed protocols for investigating officer-involved shootings. “Best Practices for Investigating an Officer-Involved Critical Incident,” published by the Ohio Attorney General’s Office in 2021, explains the important steps that lead to fair and thorough investigations.
Independent investigations
Independence is a bedrock principle of fair investigations. When law enforcement agencies investigate their own — no matter how competent the investigation — the setup creates the appearance of an unfair process and jeopardizes community trust in the outcome. The Attorney General’s Office offers two expert teams to help instill confidence from all sides: investigators and prosecutors trusted for their high-quality work and independent decision-making.
BCI Insights: Investigating Lethal Use of Force
BCI Insights Video Preview
This specialized team provides investigations of officer-involved critical incidents that are consistent, independent, professional and timely. After BCI receives a formal request for help, teams are deployed to the scene from the BCI divisions based on the circumstances of the case. Agents from Special Investigations lead critical incident investigations and are aided, as warranted, by experts from Crime Scene, Cyber Crimes and Criminal Intelligence units.
The team, which investigates more officer-involved critical incidents than any other law enforcement agency in the state, has a reputation for thoroughness and fairness.
Upon the request of a local authority, AGO lawyers can serve as lead prosecutors in cases in which local prosecutors’ relationship with local law enforcement presents a conflict of interest. Also, local prosecutors can call upon the AGO team to serve as assistant prosecutors for cases in which specialized knowledge, greater resources or their independent position can enhance community trust.
Transparent investigations
Attorney General Yost is committed to providing transparency in all officer-involved critical investigations in which his office is involved. The point at which information is released, though, must be balanced with the need for a fair investigation and judicial process. Timing is critical.
To read released OICI investigation files, visit this webpage.
Especially in controversial cases, it is essential that the public be informed of the investigatory process that will be followed. This information can reinforce the detailed nature, thoroughness and impartiality of the process — justice cannot be rushed and still be fair. Releasing such information also provides a realistic timeline for when the public can expect to learn more facts about what happened.
However, it is not appropriate, or legal, to release all details as investigators learn them. To ensure fair investigations and prosecutions, including grand jury hearings, a lot of information must be held back until cases are completed.
Attorney General Yost has made it his mission to make public the investigatory files of concluded cases. This ensures that objective truth plays a role in the ensuing conversations and allows the public to see what information informed the ultimate decision-making.
Thus, after cases that BCI investigated and/or AGO lawyers prosecuted come to a close — say, with a trial and verdict, a grand jury declining to indict or a prosecutor declining to pursue a case — the Attorney General’s Office will expediently release files on its website.
Such files may include, among other records, field reports, dispatch records, crime scene reports, laboratory documents, involved-officer interviews and autopsy reports.
A special note on restraint law revisions
Passed as emergency legislation, House Bill 8 became effective on May 17, 2021. This new law regarding the restraint of pregnant women and juveniles replaces the HB 1 law, which took effect on April 12, 2021. Please read this document to gain an understanding of the law changes regarding the restraint of pregnant females.
Proposed reforms
Since the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, in Minneapolis, there has been recognition that some reforms are necessary. Such actions would demonstrate to the public that officers can, should and do hold themselves to high standards and would empower departments by, for example, providing funding for training or instituting a way to remove bad actors. The following is a look at proposals that Attorney General Yost supports.
Read more:
>> On the Job newsletter story: “Policing today: The time to build, not tear down”
>> Press release announcing some proposals: Governor DeWine, Attorney General Yost Announce Plans for Meaningful Law Enforcement Reform
Ohio law recognizes both the castle doctrine and law enforcement’s use of so-called no-knock warrants. That combination sets up potentially dangerous conflicts between officers and law-abiding gun owners who assume their home is being invaded by bad guys — not the good guys.
Still, a no-knock warrant is a valuable tool for law enforcement, for whom executing search warrants is particularly risky. (See Dayton Police Detective Jorge Del Rio’s story above on this page.)
“Executing a search warrant in cases involving drug dealers, human traffickers and other violent offenders is inherently dangerous for law enforcement — and inherently necessary,” Attorney General Yost said. “Officers should be properly equipped to make the safest entry possible, and a no-knock warrant, a waiver of the statutory ‘knock and announce’ requirements, can be the right tool to safeguard them.”
Amid talk of banning such warrants across the U.S., Yost and a bipartisan group of prosecutors from Ohio’s largest counties urged the legislature and governor to raise the bar for obtaining no-knock warrants by:
- Strengthening the threshold to there being a substantial risk of serious physical harm to officers.
- Clarifying that “probable cause” and not “reasonable suspicion,” a lower standard, is required.
- Barring no-knock warrants for misdemeanor drug possession or possession of drug paraphernalia.
- Requiring officers to be clearly marked as authorities and to turn on body cameras.
Read more:
>> Yost’s letter to the governor and legislative leaders
>> The press release announcing the proposals: AG Yost, Bipartisan Group of Prosecutors Propose a Plan to Preserve No-Knock Warrants
In Ohio, barbers, construction-industry contractors, lawyers, medical workers of all kinds, social workers and teachers all must be licensed, a process that provides accountability.
“At the end of the day, what we need is a way to get rid of the few bad cops who are acting out and giving law enforcement a bad name,” AG Yost has said. “Licensing provides a fair method to do this.”
The plan would essentially add an oversight and accountability board to the Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission and Academy. The board – made up of, among others, active law enforcement officers – would work with law enforcement veterans and experts to set the professional standards and code of ethics required to hold a license.
Board priorities would be fairness, due-process safeguards and transparency — not penalizing officers for having imperfect knowledge at the time of an incident.
Violations could result in a license being suspended or revoked, which would disqualify those unfit for the job from policing in Ohio, instead of allowing them to move to another unsuspecting department when they run into trouble.
“Having that licensure in place would build trust in the community,” Yost said. “It also would make every officer safer.”
Read more:
>> Akron Beacon Journal story: Ohio attorney general promotes more police training, state licensure program
>> Columbus Dispatch story: Yost again calls for Ohio to license police officers, more training money
Purpose: To build public trust in the results of investigations of officers
Independent investigations would require that:
- A neutral third party, such as the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), to investigate all officer-involved critical incidents throughout the state.
- Outside prosecutors also be assigned to officer-involved shootings and in-custody deaths.
Chokehold Ban
Purpose: To allow use of the potentially dangerous tactic only when an officer’s life is in danger
Advanced Training
Purpose: To create a regular funding stream to pay for advanced training for law enforcement officers
Basic-Training Psychological Checks
Purpose: To help ensure that only those with appropriate temperament become officers
- Would require basic training applicants to pass a psychological exam
- Would require the Ohio Police Officer Training Commission, after a cadet graduates, to check references, etc. to ensure that the candidate possesses appropriate character before issuing a certification
Body cameras
Purpose: To make police body cameras more widespread
- Would provide funding for equipment and video storage
- By governor’s order, Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers will be outfitted with the cameras.
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The Ohio Attorney General Office’s newsletter for first responders and victim advocates shares the stories behind investigations, personal missions, interagency partnerships and AGO developments.
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