More than 100 people have faced felony charges for scamming Ohioans since the Attorney General’s Economic Crimes Unit formed three years ago, and 64 have been convicted so far. These crimes target honest, trusting people — many of them elderly — and often take more time than local law enforcement agencies can invest without assistance.
One law enforcement officer who died in 2013 and six who lost their lives in the line of duty in years past will be honored at this year’s Ohio Peace Officers’ Memorial Ceremony. The 27th annual ceremony will take place at 11 a.m. May 1 at the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy in London.
One of the most important takeaways from a series of 15 community forums Attorney General Mike DeWine is conducting on Ohio’s heroin epidemic is the need to bring all players to the table.
Homicide investigators arrive at a suspect’s home and identify a murder scene. Also present when they arrive are officers guarding both the scene and the suspect. Can the home, including cupboards, drawers, and closets that are all inaccessible to the suspect, be searched? The answer is no, even though many believe that the urgency of the situation gives rise to a “homicide exception” to the warrant requirement.
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.
The opiate crisis has evolved, snaring our state in a deadly progression from prescription pills to heroin. It’s a familiar pattern with gruesome consequences. And it’s playing out in many states, including Ohio.
I have been working with many Ohio families devastated by our state’s heroin epidemic, and if I could somehow change the reason for our encounters, I would.
Attorney General Mike DeWine’s new Heroin Unit provides Ohio communities with law enforcement, legal, and outreach assistance to combat the state’s escalating opiate problem.
Ohio’s opiate problem has many dimensions, and solving it will require many components: law enforcement, courts, treatment options, education, community services, support networks, and more.
The Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy will offer law enforcement a new course — The Heroin Epidemic: Recognition and Investigation — in February and March.