On the Job 

Two Days in May focuses on helping Ohio’s most vulnerable citizens
 
The Ohio Attorney General’s Two Days in May Conference on Victim Assistance, set for May 14–15 at the Hyatt Regency Columbus, will focus on the theme of Empowering Ohio’s Most Vulnerable. State and national speakers, a symposium on bullying, and 33 workshops are planned.
 
Certain vulnerable populations — children, elderly residents, people with mental illness, and others — face a higher risk of being victimized. This year’s conference will focus on the individual needs of such victims and ways to ensure they have access to quality, comprehensive services.
 
Each year, the two-day conference draws about 1,000 victim advocates, law enforcement, mental health providers, and other criminal justice professionals who work with victims across the state.
 
Online registration will be available in March at www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov/TDIM. In the meantime, nominations are being accepted through the website for the conference’s Special Achievement and Promising Practices awards.
 
 
Prescription drop boxes assist in Southern Ohio
 
Sixty-six Ohio law enforcement agencies are offering a new service to their communities under a prescription drug drop box pilot program.
 
The Ohio Attorney General’s Office, the Ohio Department of Health, Drug Free Action Alliance, and National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators collaborated to provide the drug disposal bins. Most are in Southern Ohio, which has been hit especially hard by prescription drug abuse.
 
The secure, mailbox-style bins can be used by residents during agencies’ business hours. Each department then properly disposes of the medication on a regular basis.
 
Delhi Township Police Chief James Howarth said residents of his 10-square-mile jurisdiction west of Cincinnati turned in more than 18 pounds of medications in the program’s first month.
 
“It’s been well-received,” Howarth said, noting that residents often asked him whether his department could accept medication for disposal outside of established Drug Take-Back Days. “It’s something I had always wanted to do, so when the Attorney General’s Office came up with it and provided a drop box at no cost to us, that was huge.”
 
Depending on the results of the pilot, the program could expand statewide.
 
 
Online human trafficking courses meet Ohio’s training requirement
 
Ohio law requires peace officers to receive basic and advanced training in handling human trafficking violations. The Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy (OPOTA) provides three online courses that meet the state mandate.
 
The eOPOTA courses assist officers in identifying the crime, protecting the rights of victims, and collaborating with others to help victims. The courses are titled Awareness of Human Trafficking, Responding to Human Trafficking, and Ohio Human Trafficking. To receive credit, law enforcement officers should take them at www.OHLEG.org/eOPOTA.
 
More information on human trafficking and courses accessible to the general public appear at www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov/HumanTrafficking.
 
OPOTA also offers classroom-based training on human trafficking. Courses are listed in the academy’s online course catalog at www.OhioAtttorneyGeneral.gov/OPOTA.
 
 
OPOTA expands Mobile Academy simulator training
 
The Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy is expanding use-of-force and defensive driving training by adding eight more simulators for instruction across the state.
 
OPOTA unveiled three of each type of simulator during the Ohio Attorney General’s Law Enforcement Conference in October. The response prompted a decision to purchase four more driving and four more firearms simulators, for a total of 14.
 
The simulators are offered through OPOTA’s Mobile Academy, which provides regional training around the state. The MILO Range Pro firearms simulators can be set up quickly within local departments, and the PatrolSim driving simulators are housed in mobile, climate-controlled trailers.
 
To request training in your area, e-mail AskOPOTA@OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov.
 
 
Crime Victim Services sets training dates
 
The AG’s Crime Victim Services Section has set 2013 training dates for three of its most sought-after offerings:
 

• Non-Stranger Sexual Assault Response and Investigation is Feb. 7–8 at the Center for Economic Opportunity in Washington   Court House. Students follow a sexual assault case from start to finish, hearing from an advocate, law enforcement officer, sexual assault nurse examiner, and prosecutor.
• Finding Words will be offered April 22–26 and Oct. 21–25 at the Center for Family Safety and Healing at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus. It teaches participants how to conduct a competent investigative interview of a child abuse victim.
• The Basic Advocacy Skills in Crime Victim Services (BASICS) course, for professionals new to advocacy, will be offered Aug. 5–9 at the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy in London.

     
To register or receive more information, call 800-582-2877.