Outreach focuses on services, funding for crime victims
The Attorney General’s Crime Victim Services Section is reaching out to audiences around the state to draw attention to its many services as well as assistance available through the Ohio Victims of Crime Compensation Fund.
“Crime victims have rights, and it’s important that advocates, law enforcement, and especially victims are aware of those rights and the resources available. Our section provides many resources and is here to assist those in need,” said Tannisha Bell, who has headed the Crime Victim Services Section since mid-2013. Bell previously served as an assistant attorney general with the Office of the Washington, D.C., Attorney General and as an assistant city prosecutor with the city of Columbus.
Ohio crime victims have received more than $341 million from the Ohio Victims of Crime Compensation Fund since its establishment in 1976, including $8.8 million last year.
The fund helps eligible victims and their families cover certain out-of-pocket expenses resulting from assault, sexual assault, domestic violence, homicide, menacing and stalking, and certain motor vehicle crimes.
To schedule a Crime Victim Services presentation or learn more about the compensation program, visit
www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov/Victims or call 800-582-2877.
Crime Victims’ Rights booklets available
Agencies can request free copies of the Ohio Crime Victims’ Rights booklet by calling 800-582-2877 or visiting
www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov/Victims and clicking on “Crime Victim Publication Request Form.”
The publication helps law enforcement agencies fulfill their obligation under Ohio Revised Code Section 2930.04 to provide all crime victims with information about their rights. Prosecutors, rape crisis centers, advocates, hospitals, and others also distribute it.
Sexual Assault Kit Testing Update
Here are results from the Attorney General’s Office Sexual Assault Kit Initiative as of mid-March. The Bureau of Criminal Investigation’s laboratory staff is conducting testing on the old kits.
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Kits submitted: 6,068
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Kits tested: 3,112
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Agencies submitting kits: 123
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CODIS hits identifying a DNA source or investigative lead: 1,052 (33.8 percent of kits tested)
For more information or to submit untested kits, call 855-BCI-OHIO (885-224-6446).
Fugitive Safe Surrender scheduled in Akron June 25–28
The Attorney General’s Office and local authorities will conduct a Fugitive Safe Surrender from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 25–28 at the House of the Lord Church, 1650 Diagonal Road, Akron.
The Attorney General’s Office coordinates with local communities on Fugitive Safe Surrender events, which encourage individuals wanted for nonviolent felony or misdemeanor crimes to surrender peacefully and have their cases adjudicated in a safe, neutral location, typically a church. It is not an amnesty program. The goal is to reduce the risk to law enforcement officers who pursue fugitives, to the neighborhoods in which fugitives hide, and to the fugitives themselves.
For more information on the upcoming event or Fugitive Safe Surrender in general, contact Robert Davis at
Robert.Davis@OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov or 216-787-3275.
BCI’s Investigative Services and Identification contacts
Joe Dietz is director of BCI’s Investigative Services group, while Rickeya Franklin oversees the Identification Division.
Dietz has been with BCI since 1996, working as a special agent with the Crime Scene and Special Investigations units and then as Northern Ohio supervisor for the Cybercrimes Unit. Franklin previously served as BCI’s grants coordinator and more recently was director of grants administration for the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services.
Steve Raubenolt, who oversaw the Identification Division and the Ohio Law Enforcement Gateway for the past decade, retired in April.
OPOTA course covers organized retail crime
A free regional OPOTA course covers organized retail crime, which the FBI estimates costs businesses — and ultimately consumers — up to $30 billion a year. The course focuses on organized retail crime’s connection with narcotics, money laundering through local markets, cigarette smuggling, and how it is different from shoplifting. The course is taught by Dennis Dansak, head of Kroger’s organized retail crime division.
The course is offered from 9 a.m. to noon on these dates: April 25 at The Senior Center in Forest Park, April 30 at OPOTA Richfield, and May 14 at Owens Community College in Walbridge.
For details, visit
www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov/OPOTAcourses or email
AskOPOTA@OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov.
Program stresses safe dating practices
Some worrisome stats surround teen dating:
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Nearly one of three teens who have been in a relationship report being threatened with or experiencing physical or sexual abuse.
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Half report being controlled, threatened, or pressured.
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Up to 40,000 Ohio girls ages 15 to 19 are victimized in relationships every year.
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To draw attention to these realities, Attorney General Mike DeWine recently spoke at Reynoldsburg High School’s “Safe Dating” assembly. The gathering was held in conjunction with Reynoldsburg’s observation of a Day of Respect and Safe Dating.
The Attorney General’s Crime Victim Services Section works with Jewish Family Services on a SAFE DATES program. The program focuses on communication, empowerment, and recognizing the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships. It can be used to help youths contribute community service hours. For information, email
lcarroll@jfscolumbus.org.