Ohio’s new human trafficking law requires peace officers to receive basic and advanced training in handling human trafficking violations.
To help law enforcement agencies satisfy the requirement, the Attorney General’s Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy offers courses that assist officers in identifying the crime, recognizing and protecting the rights of victims, and collaborating with non-governmental and social service organizations to help victims.
Two options — classroom-based training and online courses — are available, and both approaches satisfy the law’s mandate.
A list of currently scheduled classroom-based training dates and locations follows. Additional trainings will be scheduled as needed.
- Sept. 6, Course 02-187-12-03, London OPOTA campus
- Sept. 17, Course 02-187-12-05, Columbus Police Academy
- Sept. 20, Course 02-187-12-06, Cincinnati Police Academy
- Sept. 24, Course 02-187-12-07, Owens Community College, Perrysburg
- Sept. 28, Course 52-187-12-01, Richfield OPOTA campus
- Dec. 6, Course 02-187-12-04, London OPOTA campus
Law enforcement also may take advantage of online courses available through eOPOTA, accessible through the Ohio Law Enforcement Gateway. The Awareness of Human Trafficking and Responding to Human Trafficking courses may be taken at officers’ convenience. A third eOPOTA course highlighting aspects of the new law is in development. Successful completion of all three online courses also will fulfill the mandated training requirement.
For more information on these courses, visit
www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov/OPOTA or
www.OHLEG.org/eOPOTA, or send an e-mail to
askOPOTA@OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov.
The Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission already requires basic training academies to include human trafficking in their curricula.