Protecting Ohio’s families and children requires a great deal of cooperation among many professionals in state government and local law enforcement. Since my swearing-in ceremony in January, we have been working hard to raise the standard of service that the Ohio Attorney General’s Office — especially BCI — delivers to our law enforcement partners.
You may remember that I said soon after taking office that I intend for BCI to be the premier criminal investigation and analysis agency in the nation. I’m proud that BCI Superintendent Tom Stickrath and his team are making measurable progress toward that goal, especially in areas affecting turnaround times for DNA evidence processing.
At the end of 2010, before I took office, BCI averaged 125 days to complete DNA testing on biological evidence and inform local authorities of the results. That timeline is simply unacceptable. It puts lives at risk and justice in jeopardy, and it’s too long for victims, suspects, law enforcement, and the public to wait.
Looking for ways to reduce response time, a team of 15 BCI staff members created detailed workflow charts of the three different processes used at the London, Richfield, and Bowling Green labs and consolidated them into one.
The new process being developed with the help of our great staff at BCI is expected to eliminate more than 100 steps and significantly reduce the overall time between the submission of evidence and the final report.
I’m very encouraged by the progress at BCI. I’m confident we’re on track for the bureau to emerge as one of the nation’s leading criminal investigation and analysis agencies, and I’m grateful to its leadership and staff for working to make that happen.
Very respectfully yours,
Mike DeWine
Ohio Attorney General
We are listening
While reducing BCI lab processing times is a top priority, there are other ways we can improve service to our law enforcement partners by listening to their concerns.
For example, as a direct result of conversations with law enforcement, we’re enhancing our crime scene analytical capabilities and expanding our Cyber Crimes Unit. We’re improving the Ohio Law Enforcement Gateway as a comprehensive source of information. And we’re opening a BCI office in Athens to make polygraph and lab receiving services more accessible to our law enforcement partners in Southeast Ohio.
We’re eager to hear the criminal justice community’s suggestions about how to improve BCI. If you have feedback or ideas, please send an e-mail to BCI@OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov or call us toll-free at 855-BCI-OHIO (855-224-6446).