The Ohio Attorney General’s Heroin Unit, developed in 2013 to help law enforcement pursue high-level traffickers and to work with communities affected by the opiate epidemic, combines the talents of the Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission (OOCIC), the Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), the Special Prosecutions Section and drug-abuse outreach specialists. We spoke with Amy O’Grady, director of Criminal Justice Initiatives, who heads the unit; Scott Duff, BCI special agent supervisor, who leads the unit’s law enforcement-related efforts; and Jennifer Biddinger, who oversees outreach.
How does the Heroin Unit get involved in a case?
O’Grady: We learn about circumstances in a county through our involvement on the law enforcement end. Otherwise, our outreach group receives referrals from other counties, or we proactively reach out to counties to see what we can do to help.
Duff: BCI is a request agency, so we are called in at the request of a local law enforcement department. Within the Heroin Unit, we have four special agents assigned regionally to assist local law enforcement with heroin-related investigations. We have also staffed the Heroin Unit with four criminal investigators who assist in the preparation of cases, as well.
Typically how long does an investigation last?
Duff: That depends, but these investigations are not normally quick investigations. They are extremely time consuming and may take as long as a year, maybe longer.
Can you say what types of help you offer to law enforcement?
Duff: We offer investigative expertise, using experienced narcotics agents who work in the field. That may mean cultivating informants, making drug buys, conducting hundreds of hours of surveillance, etc. We use some of the most state-of-the-art electronic surveillance equipment to assist local agencies, as well. We also offer financial assistance for certain things associated with conducting these long-term investigations. Many law enforcement agencies do not have adequate resources to do that, so the Attorney General’s Office offers some help in that regard.
How many cases can the unit work at one time?
Duff: That depends on what the needs are. We can juggle multiple cases to a certain degree, and, at times, we concentrate on one investigation. It depends on what stage the investigation is in. We also do our best to prioritize the cases to make sure that we are using our resources in the most effective and efficient manner.
How does the unit’s community outreach work?
O’Grady: We provide education about the opioid epidemic, county by county. We also help counties identify areas where they may need additional assistance in fighting the opioid epidemic, and suggest resources to fulfill those needs.
Biddinger: More people are getting to know about us. Recently, the
60 Minutes piece caused a flurry of activity. I get outreach-related calls every day, and (the Attorney General’s) Constituent Services section has also been helping people get in touch with me.
Has the unit changed since it was developed?
Duff: I wouldn’t say the unit has changed, but we are constantly looking to improve our services. One example is we have found that having the enforcement group communicate with the outreach team on a daily basis improves unit efficiency.
O’Grady: We have a core group and engage others as needed.
Do you think the unit is making a difference? How?
O’Grady: Yes. We’ve regularly provided assistance with investigation and prosecution needs on criminal cases. And we provide a unique service through our community outreach work. Communities are responding very well to our assistance. We are seeing a level of engagement across the board that is so impressive.
Duff: I do think the unit is making a difference. We have worked tirelessly with our local law enforcement partners to offer that help that otherwise they would not have been able to receive — whether that be with the investigative, financial or prosecutorial support we offer.
What about the future?
O’Grady: We are proactively reaching out to counties that we haven’t worked with before, to see what we can do to help. We are looking at how we can be value added in addition to our core work, including promoting naloxone use in communities.
Duff: We will keep fighting the fight, assist our local partners in identifying those organizations that continue to traffic in heroin, and attempt to dismantle those organizations.
For more information on the Heroin Unit, call 614-728-4943, send an email to Amy.O'Grady@ohioattorneygeneral.gov or visit
www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov/DrugAbuse.