BCI a good bet for casinos
The Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) was on duty when Ohio’s first casinos opened this spring in Cleveland and Toledo. The Casino Control Commission chose BCI to provide law enforcement services on the casino floors and to collaborate with local law enforcement and casino security on issues that fall under their jurisdiction.
Here is a “by the numbers” look at BCI’s assignment with the casinos:
5/14/12: Horseshoe Casino opens in Cleveland
5/29/12: Hollywood Casino opens in Toledo
80: Approximate hours of special training the agents have undergone — 40 on gaming crimes and 40-plus on human trafficking, diversity and other topics
12: Number of BCI agents — including a supervisor — staffing each casino
4 on, 3 off: Agents’ work schedule
5,000: Capacity of each casino at any given time
24: Casinos’ hours of operation each day
Drug prevention programs receive $3.8 million
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine has announced that 190 law enforcement agencies will share $3.8 million to keep anti-drug programs in Ohio’s schools.
The Drug Use Prevention Grants will help keep school resource and DARE officers on school grounds. The money also will be used to expand the focus of the anti-drug campaign to include prescription drugs.
“Prescription drugs are leaving the medicine cabinets and are ending up in school hallways,” Attorney General DeWine said. “This is a serious problem, and we must do everything we can to teach students that prescription drugs are just as deadly as street drugs.”
Funding for the grants comes from driver’s license reinstatement fees collected from convicted drunk drivers.
eOPOTA features popular ‘In the Line of Duty’ videos
The Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy’s eOPOTA online offerings now include seven installments from the “In the Line of Duty” video series.
The videos feature high-profile cases involving traffic stops and approaches. Among them is the stop that led to the arrest of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and a study of the shooting death of South Carolina Trooper Mark Coates along with an interview with Coates’ killer.
To view the videos or take any of more than 70 eOPOTA courses available, visit www.OHLEG.org.
Drug Take Back nets 26,207 pounds of pills
That’s the weight of prescription pills Ohioans disposed of during National Drug Take Back Day in April. Held twice a year, the effort — coordinated by local law enforcement and fire departments, the Drug Enforcement Agency, and Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine’s office — gives people a way to safely dispose of unneeded or expired prescription medications. The purpose is to ensure the drugs don’t fall into the wrong hands or harm the environment as a result of improper disposal.