Online or on the road, OPOTAserves local law enforcementOhio law nforcmnt ofcrs takpart in an Ohio PacOfcr Trainin g Acamy courson how to al with activshootrs. Continued on Page 7New fronts established in battle against opiates COVERSTORY Photos by Lisa MurrayShare your suggestions with OPOTA The Ohio Peace Ofcer Traiig Academy wats to help you address your law eforcemet trai- ig eeds. To let us kow how OPOTA cabetter serve your agecy, cotact Executive Director Bob Fiatal at Robert.Fiatal@OhioAttorney General.gov or call him at 740-845-2757. OPOTA oers basic peace ofcer training course in early 2012 OPOT A will coduct a Peace Ofcer Basic Trai- ig School Ja. 17–May 4 at the academy’s maicampus iLodo. Applicats must obtaia peace ofcer appoitmet ad be employed by a law eforcemet agecy prior to the start of the course. For iformatio, cotact James “Doug” Daiels at 740-845-6304 or [email protected]. Registratioforms are at www.OhioAttorney General.gov/OPOTARegistration. More inside: Attorney General shares thoughts on OPOT A’s commitment to law enforcement, Page 2. As statewide efforts to battle the prescrip- tiodrug abuse epidemic begito show results, the Ohio Attorey Geeral’s Ofce ad its parters are seeig a rise ithe prevalece of heroi, promptig a broader focus to ght opiates igeeral. Assistat Attorey Geeral AaroHaslam, who is leadig the ofce’s work to stem the opiate problem, said icreased heroitrafckig followed othe heels of a crack- dowoprescriptiodrug abuse. L ike heroi, paikillers such as oxycodoe ad hydrocodoe are opiates. Haslam said a ew state law stregtheigthe licesig of paimaagemet cliics already is havig aeffect. The law, which took effect May 20, also ehaces t he computerized Ohio Automated Rx Review System to help idetify extesive prescrip- tiodrug use. “The regulatios have helped cut off a lot of the supply. The umber of paicliics has dropped sigicatly. Scioto Couty, which had 12 paicliics, ow has just oe,” Haslam said. “But as the supply ofprescriptiodrugs has goe dow, we’ve seea boom iheroi. “A lot of the heroithat we’re seei g is comig out of Mexico ad South America, ad the cartels brigig it iare very orga - ized,” he added. “Ulike how prescriptiodrugs are illegally distributed, what we see with heroiis that it’s comig ito hub cit - ies such as Columbus ad Ciciati, ad addicts are travelig to get it.” Haslam said the Attorey Geeral’s Ofce is workig closely with the Goveror’s Ofce, By R. Steven GravesContinued on Page 5This black tar heroin was conscaterecently in Ohio. The Ohio Peace Ofcer Traiig Academy (OPOTA) is reachig out to serve local law eforcemet by makig traiigs evemore co- veiet for time-strapped ad budget-cosciou s agecies across Ohio. “Our job is to assist local law eforcemet. Whatever the eeds of law eforcemet are for traiig, we do our best to meet them, while at the same time makig them coveiet ad affordable,” Ohio Attorey Geeral Mike DeWie said. “May of OPOTA’s courses are free, ad olie courses offer the coveiece of beigavailable 24/7 othe Iteret, where ay ofcer workig ay shift cahave access.” A goal set by DeWie is to icrease the traiigs available ad to schedule them withiahour’s drive of most law eforcemet agecies — at large veues close to major iterstates — ad with free parkig. “We’re ithe busiess of p rovidig law eforce- met with the best istructiopossible at the lowest possible cost. It does’t g et ay lower thafree,” said Bob Fiatal, who serves as executive director of the academy ad the Ohio
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Aaron Haslam heas up Attorney General Mike deWine’s opiate
abuse initiative.
FALL 2011 5
Continued from Page 1
the state medical ad pharmacy boards, the
Drug Eforcemet Admiistratio, the U.S. Attor-
ey’s Ofce, ad law eforcemet to coordiate
efforts o the overall opiate problem.
For example, the Bureau of Crimial Ivestigatio
(BCI), Special Prosecutios Uit, ad Ohio Orga-
ized Crime Ivestigatios Commissio are co-
ordiatig with local, state, ad federal agecies
o 17 ivestigatios ivolvig opiates. Haslamhas bee desigated as a special assistat U.S.
attorey to prosecute opiate cases.
In other developments:
• The Attorey Geeral’s Ofce scheduled
a multistate law eforcemet summit o
prescriptio drug abuse at this year’s
Law Eforcemet Coferece.
• The Ohio Police Ofcer Traiig Academy
offers free traiigs o prescriptio drug
diversio throughout the state ad olie
through eOPOTA.
• The Attorey Geeral’s Ofce has created
a iteral workig group ad exteral
advisory coucil o prescriptio drug
abuse. The latter icludes peace ofcers,
judges, educators, health care experts, ad
prevetio ad poiso cotrol professioals.
• Ohio is workig with other states to share
prescriptio drug moitorig iformatio.
Pilot projects are i place with Ketucky ad
Idiaa. As may as 30 states may
participate by 2012.
I additio to addressig the opiate problem, theAttorey Geeral’s Ofce worked to iclude la-
guage o aalog drugs ad so-called bath salts
i a ew law that took effect July 15. Origially
drafted to ba sythetic caabioids, the law
was broadeed to list derivatives of cathioe,
the active igrediet i bath salts, ad aalog
drugs as Schedule I cotrolled substaces.
Former BCI foresic chemist Eri Reed, ow a
assistat attorey geeral, has researched aa-
log drugs ad advocated actio to restrict them.
“The law was eeded,” she said, “to prosecute
udergroud chemists who were avoidig pros-
ecutio simply by slightly alterig the chemical
structure of cotrolled substaces.”
New fronts establishedQ&A Meet Aaron HaslamSeior Assistat Attorey Geeral Aaro
Haslam, who is leadig the Attorey
Geeral’s prescriptio drug abuse
iitiative, shares his thoughts o the
assigmet ad opiate abuse treds.
You were chosen or this role, in part,because o your experience dealing with the issue as Adams County prosecutor. What did you take rom that? Most people were uaware of the prescriptio drug problem i Adams Couty. We brought
together law eforcemet, judges, ad other stakeholders across the commuity to raise aware-
ess, provide educatio, ad deal with the problem o may differet levels.
How successul were you in Adams County? Talkig with Adams Couty law eforcemet, I uderstad it is o loger easy to buy pills o the
street. Two years ago, you could buy them aywhere. The commuity is very aware of what’s go -
ig o ow, ad our overdose death rate is dow. All of those thigs poit to a good start, but it’s
importat that we cotiue to work together ad commuicate to have log-term success.
Do you think that sort o success is possible across the state?
I thik we ca replicate some of those successes statewide, but we have to let local commui- ties put their ow touch o it. The Attorey Geeral’s Ofce ca be a facilitator ad share what’s
worked elsewhere, but commuities eed to develop a approach that works locally.
How does what you saw as a county prosecutor motivate you to see Ohio tackle this problem? I was seeig oe perso after aother comig through the court system, or worse, overdosig
ad dyig. It produced heartbreakig wreckage — parets who had lost their childre, childre
who had lost their parets, families devastated emotioally ad acially. If that’s goig o i
Adams ad 87 other couties, you ca’t help but be motivated to do as much as you ca.
How is the Attorney General’s Ofce addressing the issue? BCI is able to assist with ivestigatios, ad OPOTA is offerig traiig aroud the state ad
olie through eOPOTA. Ad my uit, the Crimial Justice Sectio’s Special Prosecutios Uit, is
ivolved i prosecutig cases at all levels. We’re also collaboratig with the Goveror’s Ofce,
the legislature, ad all the other etities that have a stake i seeig Ohio tackle this problem.
Are you trying approaches that haven’t been explored beore? Yes. For istace, we’re usig a ew model for ivestigatig pill mills, rogue doctors, ad drug
rigs. It was developed by Fred Moore at BCI, ad it ivolves gatherig all the players — local law
eforcemet, prosecutors, BCI agets, the U.S. Attorey’s Ofce, the state pharmacy ad medi-
cal boards — ad workig the law eforcemet ad regulatory aspects of cases simultaeously.
Talk about the connection between prescription pills and heroin.Heroi is a easy crossover drug, ad it ca satisfy the cravig of a prescriptio drug addict.
People thik of heroi as a ier-city problem. They do’t thik about their eighbor who had
surgery, was prescribed pai medicatio, ad was’t aware he could get hooked o heroi.
Have you made the transition rom Adams County to Columbus?
I’ve bee livig i Columbus sice May. Ad my wife, Meredith, moved here i August ad took a job asa middle school taleted ad gifted coordiator i the Oletagy school district. We’re both from Adams
Couty, so we ever wat to get too far from there. But we love Columbus ad spedig time here.
1994
Ohio establishes a AutomatedFigerprit Ideticatio System(AFIS), eablig the computerizatioof crimial gerprit cards. 1998
BCI provides DnA aalysisfor the rst time, meaig DnAevidece ca be preseted icrimial prosecutios.
The Commissio o Accreditatiofor Law Eforcemet Ageciesaccredits BCI.
1999
BCI’s curret headquarters opes iLodo. The $20.3 millio, state-of-
the-art facility is three times the sizeof the former accommodatios.
2002
The America Society of CrimeLaboratory Directors/LaboratoryAccreditatio Board accredits BCI’sLaboratory Divisio.
2011
A ew law requires DnA to becollected from all feloy arrestees.
BCI establishes a Athes ofce toehace polygraph ad evidece
itake services.
2001
Ohio coects to the natioal CODIS etwork.
The state has its rst CODIS hit whe DnA froma Warre Couty rape case is etered ito thedatabase ad it matches that of a of federearlier covicted of aggravated burglary.