On the Job 

What do you want Ohio’s law enforcement officers and firefighters to know about the kind of Attorney General you are?

No politics, just results. You will be able to reach me. 

The AG plays a big role in the law enforcement community. What are your thoughts on how to continue the successful partnership?

I was a county prosecutor for eight years – I know that law-enforcement is a local government function. We are here at the AG’s Office to support local law enforcement.

The key to successful law enforcement is ever greater communication and cooperation. Bad guys don’t pay attention to jurisdictional lines, and crime is becoming more mobile and more digital. Our most effective tack is working together.

How important is engagement with law enforcement for you?

You can’t know what’s going on out there unless you’re on the street, actively engaging the people who actually do the work. I will not be a prisoner of some Columbus office tower. I want to know what you are encountering and how I can help.

When officers graduate from Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy programs, what skills should they possess to best serve Ohioans?

An officer needs to be ready for duty. That means everything from tactical excellence to de-escalation techniques – and, always, knowing the law.

What type of pressures do you think law enforcement officers face on a daily basis and what can be done to help? 

The only people who can really understand the stress an officer deals with are those who have been on the job. That real-time decision-making with high stakes simply doesn’t exist in other professions. 

Add to that the second-guessing of the Monday morning quarterbacks and you have a recipe for a unique kind of stress.

Every officer who voluntarily puts on the badge and goes to work accepts a level of risk that demonstrates their good intentions and warrants the presumption of good faith. As Attorney General, I will make that case to the people we serve.

What’s the top job on your resume that prepared you for this role?

It’s my time among the sheepdogs, when I was prosecutor in Delaware County. Lt. Col. Dave Grossman got it right – there are three kinds of people out there. And I’ve always hated the wolves.