On the Job 

Nearly three decades after DNA analysis first became a tool in criminal investigations, demand for the testing continues to rise. In Ohio, BCI is experiencing its heaviest DNA caseload ever.

The first year of a major push to analyze Ohio’s untested sexual assault kits has concluded, and the results exceed even the most hopeful predictions.

Technology will always be one of crime-fighters’ best weapons. It helps us outsmart the most devious criminals, join forces with others in law enforcement, speed assistance to victims, and prevent future crime.

Ohio law enforcement officers will receive four hours of professional training in 2014, one hour related to crimes against families and three on general law enforcement topics.

Karen Kwek had been a member of the lab team at the Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation for 14 years when she was named BCI’s laboratory director in late spring. She oversees 150 staff members and an ultramodern lab that law enforcement and prosecutors around the state rely on for fast, accurate evidence analysis.

The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) has reaccredited the Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy under its new Gold Standard Assessment program. OPOTA was the first law enforcement training facility in the United States to receive the Gold Standard accreditation.

Ohio is now among only about 20 percent of states across the country to implement a container program for disposing of methamphetamine lab waste, an approach recommended by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. The Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) launched the program in May.

The Attorney General’s special prosecutors work on a wide range of cases in all corners of Ohio, and thanks to an impressive conviction rate, their proponents are just as widespread. In fact, demand for the office’s help with prosecutions prompted Attorney General Mike DeWine to increase staff in this area and to designate Special Prosecutions as its own section.

The Ohio Supreme Court issued a decision Sept. 3 in State Ex. Rel. Miller v. Ohio State Highway Patrol, et. al., which deals with a public records request.

Safe Neighborhoods call-in sends a message

The voices were varied — those of an ER doctor, a minister, an ex-con, the police chief, the prosecutor — but the message for Akron’s most violent offenders centered on a common theme: End the gun violence or face the consequences, including a major crackdown on your whole group.