Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation

Last updated
Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation
Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation vehicle.jpg
BCI vehicle in Akron, Ohio
Agency overview
FormedJuly 9, 1921
Employees300
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdictionOhio, US
Legal jurisdictionOhio
Operational structure
Parent agency Attorney General’s Office
Website
Official Website for the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) is an investigative law enforcement agency for the U.S. state of Ohio.

Contents

History

The department was founded on July 9, 1921. It began as a minor records keeping facility in conjunction with the Department of Public Welfare. A few years later, it was moved to the Department of Mental Hygiene and Corrections. The Department of Corrections originally housed BCI in the basement of the Ohio State Penitentiary in Columbus, Ohio until a fire and subsequent threat of riot by inmates in 1930 forced a move to the London Prison Farm. [1] [2]

During those early years, inmate labor performed most of the work. Archives show these inmates reviewing, indexing and sorting fingerprint records. In the 1940s, BCI also had a printing press, and used inmate labor to produce the book entitled, "The Science of Fingerprint Classification: As Taught and Used in the Ohio State Bureau of Identification and Investigation." Criminal investigations on a very small scale were carried out by the laboratory division. In 1959, an 11,350-square-foot (1,054 m2) structure was erected in front of London Prison Farm. At the same time, the Investigations Division was formally added, investigative field agents were hired [2] and the name was changed from Bureau of Criminal Identification to Bureau of Criminal Identification & Investigation.[ citation needed ]

In 1963, BCI was taken over by the Attorney General's Office and was given a broader range of activities. In 1972, Attorney General William Brown reorganized BCI into five separate divisions: identification, laboratory, investigations, administration, and data systems. In 1998 under the tutelage of former Attorney General Betty Montgomery, a $20.3 million, 122,000-square-foot (11,300 m2) facility was erected which allowed BCI to be more visible to the community and expands its assistance to law enforcement. Since 1999, the Bureau has grown to staff more than 300 employees within its four main divisions: laboratory, investigations, administration, and identification. [2]

Divisions

Identification Division

The Identification Division maintains the official record of all individuals convicted of felonies in the state of Ohio. In addition, BCI operates the Automated Fingerprint Identification System, which allows law enforcement to conduct criminal record checks in an expedited manner. There is also a system, called WebCheck, that allows some civilian agencies, such as schools and hospitals, to conduct criminal records checks over the World Wide Web. [3]

Investigation Division

The Investigation Division provides assistance to local law enforcement agencies in Ohio with the investigation of criminal activity. The services of the Investigative Division include: Environmental Law Enforcement and Training, Narcotics Enforcement, and Major Crimes Investigation. The Major Crimes Investigation department includes Crime Scene units, Criminal Intelligence units, Computer Crimes units, and Special Investigations units. [4]

Crime Labs

The crime lab on the campus of Bowling Green State University. Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation Crime Lab.jpg
The crime lab on the campus of Bowling Green State University.

The BCI operates three crime labs in Ohio. They are located in London, Bowling Green, and Richfield.

Locations

In addition to their headquarters in London, BCI operates field offices in:

See also

Related Research Articles

A state bureau of investigation (SBI) is a state-level detective agency in the United States. They are plainclothes agencies which usually investigate both criminal and civil cases involving the state and/or multiple jurisdictions. They also typically provide technical support to local agencies in the form of laboratory and/or record services, or to directly assist in the investigation of cases at the local agency's request.

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is the agency of the government of California responsible for the operation of the California state prison and parole systems. Its headquarters are in Sacramento.

The Criminal Justice Information Services Division is a division of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) located in Clarksburg, Harrison County, West Virginia. The CJIS was established in February 1992 and is the largest division in the FBI.

Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) is an independent state law enforcement agency of the government of Oklahoma. The OSBI assists the county sheriff offices and city police departments of the state, and is the primary investigative agency of the state government. OSBI works independent of the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety to investigate criminal law violations within the state at the request of statutory authorized requesters.

Prince William County Police Department

Prince William County Police Department (PWCPD) is a full-service police department, which provides the full spectrum of police services to the entire county. PWCPD began operations on July 1, 1970, and it has been fully accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) since 1987. PWCPD is divided into three districts, Eastern District, Central District and Western District.

The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) is a state-level law enforcement agency in North Carolina.

The Interstate Identification Index, AKA “FBI Triple I Teletype”, is a national index of criminal histories in the United States of America, maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) at the National Crime Information Center (NCIC). Included in this index are individuals who have been arrested or indicted for "a serious criminal offense anywhere in the country".

St. Marys County Sheriffs Office primary law enforcement agency servicing St. Marys County, Maryland

The St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office is the primary law enforcement agency servicing St. Mary's County, Maryland. It has a direct jurisdiction of 764 square miles (1,980 km2) servicing a population of 105,151 people.

The Caroline County Sheriff's Office (CCSD) is the primary law enforcement agency servicing 32,617 people within 320.14 square miles (829.2 km2) of Caroline County, Maryland.

California Department of Justice Statewide investigative law enforcement agency

The California Department of Justice is a statewide investigative law enforcement agency and legal department of the California executive branch under the elected leadership of the California Attorney General (AG) which carries out complex criminal and civil investigations, prosecutions, and other legal services throughout the US state of California. The Department is equivalent to the State Bureau of Investigation in other states.

The Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS), is a computerized system maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) since 1999. It is a national automated fingerprint identification and criminal history system. IAFIS provides automated fingerprint search capabilities, latent searching capability, electronic image storage, and electronic exchange of fingerprints and responses. IAFIS houses the fingerprints and criminal histories of 70 million subjects in the criminal master file, 31 million civil prints and fingerprints from 73,000 known and suspected terrorists processed by the U.S. or by international law enforcement agencies.

Computerized Criminal History

California Bureau of Investigation State police force

The California Bureau of Investigation is California's statewide criminal investigative bureau under the California Department of Justice, in the Division of Law Enforcement (DLE), administered by the Office of the State Attorney General that provides expert investigative services to assist local, state, tribal, and federal agencies in major criminal investigations ranging across the state.

The Pima County Sheriff's Department (PCSD) is an American law enforcement agency that serves the unincorporated areas of Pima County, Arizona. It is the seventh largest sheriff's department in the nation. It operates six district offices and three smaller satellite offices. The Corrections Bureau, has four facilities which houses on average 1,850 inmates per day.

The Science and Technology Branch is service within the Federal Bureau of Investigation that comprises three separate units. These are Forensic Science, Operational Technology, and Information Sharing. The goal when it was founded in July 2006 was to centralize the leadership and management of the three units. The mission of the STB is discover, develop, and deliver innovative science and technology so that intelligence and innovative investigation is enhanced.

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) is a statewide investigative law enforcement agency in South Carolina. SLED provides manpower and technical assistance to other law enforcement agencies and conducts investigations on behalf of the state as directed by the Governor and Attorney General. SLED Headquarters is located in the state capital, Columbia, with offices in the Midlands, Piedmont, Pee Dee, and Low Country regions.

Criminal records in the United States contain records of arrests, criminal charges and the disposition of those charges. Criminal records are compiled and updated on local, state, and federal levels by government agencies, most often law enforcement agencies. Their primary purpose is to present a comprehensive criminal history for a specific individual.

The Hudson County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) is a law enforcement agency in Hudson County, New Jersey, in the United States.

Colorado Bureau of Investigation

Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI), a division of Colorado Department of Public Safety, is a law enforcement agency of the state of Colorado that performs forensic and laboratory services and criminal investigations at the request of local and state law enforcement, agencies, and district attorneys. They investigate arson, homicides, sexual assaults, fraud, cyber, identity theft, and other crimes. Their forensic services include DNA, biology, firearm, latent print, toxicology and drug chemistry analysis. Other units in the CBI include Crime Scene Services, Crime Information Management Unit, Criminal Justice Information Systems, and Colorado’s InstaCheck Unit. The CBI is designated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division, as the CJIS Systems Agency for Colorado. It is headquartered in the Denver suburb of Lakewood at 690 Kipling Street.

Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension US state criminal investigative bureau

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) is a statewide criminal investigative bureau under the Minnesota Department of Public Safety that provides expert forensic science and criminal investigation services throughout the state of Minnesota. The BCA assists local, state, tribal, and federal agencies in major criminal investigations. It is headquartered in St. Paul.

References

  1. Ohio, Department of Public Welfare, 8th Annual Report for the Year ending December 31, 1930.
  2. 1 2 3 "BCI Overview Booklet". Website of the Ohio Attorney General. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  3. BCI Identification Division
  4. BCI Investigations Division