(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — The Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission (OPOTC) has unanimously approved recommendations put forth by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s Blue Ribbon Task Force on the Future of Police Training, signaling a significant step forward in transforming the training of Ohio law enforcement.
“Law enforcement officers face unprecedented challenges daily, and it’s our duty to equip them with the best-in-class training and support they deserve,” Yost said. “We have updated training in pieces, but now with the commission’s approval, we can wholistically overhaul the training criteria to better equip officers with the training and tools they need to protect themselves and Ohioans.”
The Blue Ribbon Task Force was convened by Attorney General Yost in the fall of 2023 to identify areas for improvement in basic and continuing peace officer training, determine recommended standards for new officers, outline expectations for instructors, and establish new training methods.
The seven primary recommendations that OPOTC has now approved are:
Amend the Peace Officer Basic Training (POBT) curriculum to reflect contemporary police services.
Establish certification levels to reflect an officer’s training and experience.
Create a Tactical Patrol Officer Program.
Add new technologies while incorporating elements of reality-based situational decision-making scenarios into both basic and advanced training.
Develop integrated lesson plans across training platforms.
Focus Continuing Professional Training (CPT) so that it keeps advancing police services.
Expand annual firearms qualifications.
The 11-member task force, chaired by OPOTA Executive Director Tom Quinlan, published a special report in February, outlining their recommendations and detailing suggested remedies.
Prior to the commission’s vote, Quinlan stressed that the recommendations do not represent a condemnation of prior state-approved training protocols, but rather provide an updated roadmap.
“It is important to note that the recommendations are interdependent, and the best results will be realized when the combined strategies complement one another over time,” Quinlan added.
Notably, the adopted recommendations require changes at the basic academy level, including adjustments to the physical fitness standards required to graduate. Academies will also see a substitution of 72 hours of outdated curriculum with new courses on active shooter and threat response, critical decision making, crisis mitigation and de-escalation, communications and mediation, and incident debrief.
The recommendations that would alter Peace Officer Basic Training will require amendments to the Ohio Administrative Code. Yost’s office will work with the General Assembly on necessary changes as part of the implementation process.
(EUCLID, Ohio) — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost issued the following statement regarding the death of Euclid Police Officer Jacob Derbin who was killed on Saturday evening in the line of duty.
“The promise to protect is signed with the blood of our officers. The killer who ambushed Officer Derbin will be found and will receive the full measure of justice.
It is a cruel irony that a mother lost her son on Mother’s Day, and that this murder happened just as we prepare to solemnize our fallen during Police Memorial Week. My heart burns with anger at this injustice, for the family of this young officer and the Euclid Police Department.”
Derbin was in his first year with the department.
The Euclid Police Department requested assistance from the Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation to investigate the officer-involved critical incident. BCI’s investigation is active and ongoing.
Governor DeWine Orders Flags Lowered in Honor of Euclid Police Officer Jacob Derbin
(COLUMBUS, Ohio)— In honor of the life and service of Euclid Police Officer Jacob Derbin, Governor Mike DeWine has ordered the flags of the United States and the state of Ohio to be flown at half-staff upon all public buildings and grounds throughout Cuyahoga County and at the Ohio Statehouse, the Vern Riffe Center, and the Rhodes State Office Tower in Columbus today until sunset on the day of his funeral.
All other public buildings and grounds throughout the state may fly the flags of the United States and the State of Ohio at half-staff at their discretion for the same time period.
(EUCLID, Ohio) — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost issued the following statement regarding the death of Euclid Police Officer Jacob Derbin who was killed on Saturday evening in the line of duty.
“The promise to protect is signed with the blood of our officers. The killer who ambushed Officer Derbin will be found and will receive the full measure of justice.
It is a cruel irony that a mother lost her son on Mother’s Day, and that this murder happened just as we prepare to solemnize our fallen during Police Memorial Week. My heart burns with anger at this injustice, for the family of this young officer and the Euclid Police Department.”
Derbin was in his first year with the department.
The Euclid Police Department requested assistance from the Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation to investigate the officer-involved critical incident. BCI’s investigation is active and ongoing.
Governor DeWine Orders Flags Lowered in Honor of Euclid Police Officer Jacob Derbin
(COLUMBUS, Ohio)— In honor of the life and service of Euclid Police Officer Jacob Derbin, Governor Mike DeWine has ordered the flags of the United States and the state of Ohio to be flown at half-staff upon all public buildings and grounds throughout Cuyahoga County and at the Ohio Statehouse, the Vern Riffe Center, and the Rhodes State Office Tower in Columbus today until sunset on the day of his funeral.
All other public buildings and grounds throughout the state may fly the flags of the United States and the State of Ohio at half-staff at their discretion for the same time period.
(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost today announced $10.25 million in three multistate settlements with the largest wireless carriers in the United States to resolve the 50 attorneys general investigations into deceptive and misleading advertising practices.
Ohio is due to receive more than $478,000 under the agreements with AT&T Mobility together with Cricket Wireless, T-Mobile USA, and Verizon Wireless together with TracFone Wireless.
“In a time when we rely heavily on our phones to stay connected, it’s unacceptable to make false promises about what consumers might expect from their wireless carriers.” Yost said. “Ohioans deserve transparency and honesty from telecommunications companies, and this agreement ensures that they will receive just that.”
Key components of the settlements involve assurances that the wireless carriers will change their advertising and business practices going forward to avoid vague “unlimited” data claims, unclear “free” phone offers and undisclosed conditions for monetary incentives for switching carriers.
Under the agreements, the carriers must:
Make sure that all future ads are truthful, accurate and not misleading.
Clearly disclose restrictions on “unlimited” data plans.
Transparently disclose incentives for switching carriers.
Clearly disclose all material terms and conditions for consumers to receive “free” devices or services.
Explicitly state when an offer involves a lease agreement.
Justify claims of cost savings with clear comparisons.
Appoint a dedicated employee to handle consumer complaints from Attorneys General offices.
Train customer service to comply with the terms of these agreements.
To view Ohio’s agreement with AT&T Mobility and Cricket Wireless, click here.
To view Ohio’s agreement with T-Mobile, click here.
To view Ohio’s agreement with Cellco dba Verizon Wireless and TracFone, click here.
(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost today announced $10.25 million in three multistate settlements with the largest wireless carriers in the United States to resolve the 50 attorneys general investigations into deceptive and misleading advertising practices.
Ohio is due to receive more than $478,000 under the agreements with AT&T Mobility together with Cricket Wireless, T-Mobile USA, and Verizon Wireless together with TracFone Wireless.
“In a time when we rely heavily on our phones to stay connected, it’s unacceptable to make false promises about what consumers might expect from their wireless carriers.” Yost said. “Ohioans deserve transparency and honesty from telecommunications companies, and this agreement ensures that they will receive just that.”
Key components of the settlements involve assurances that the wireless carriers will change their advertising and business practices going forward to avoid vague “unlimited” data claims, unclear “free” phone offers and undisclosed conditions for monetary incentives for switching carriers.
Under the agreements, the carriers must:
Make sure that all future ads are truthful, accurate and not misleading.
Clearly disclose restrictions on “unlimited” data plans.
Transparently disclose incentives for switching carriers.
Clearly disclose all material terms and conditions for consumers to receive “free” devices or services.
Explicitly state when an offer involves a lease agreement.
Justify claims of cost savings with clear comparisons.
Appoint a dedicated employee to handle consumer complaints from Attorneys General offices.
Train customer service to comply with the terms of these agreements.
To view Ohio’s agreement with AT&T Mobility and Cricket Wireless, click here.
To view Ohio’s agreement with T-Mobile, click here.
To view Ohio’s agreement with Cellco dba Verizon Wireless and TracFone, click here.
(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — On a day set aside to raise awareness nationally about fentanyl-related overdose deaths, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost released data from the Bureau of Criminal Investigation’s laboratory highlighting the ongoing prevalence of the synthetic opioid in Ohio.
“Illegal use of fentanyl continues to wreck Ohioans’ lives, causing addiction and death,” Yost said. “Unless the pills you’re taking were prescribed by your doctor, you can’t be sure what it is – don’t risk it.”
Three years ago, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) established May 7 as National Fentanyl Awareness Day, an effort to educate Americans about the public health crisis that illegal fentanyl poses and engage them in the fight to prevent more tragic deaths.
Last year alone, the DEA says, more than 70,000 Americans fatally overdosed on illegally made fentanyl. In Ohio in 2023, the total number of fentanyl-related opioid deaths was 3,579, according to Yost’s Scientific Committee on Opioid Overdose and Prevention Education (SCOPE), which monitors such deaths statewide using Ohio Department of Health data.
Those 3,579 deaths represent 98% of the 3,651 overall opioid fatalities in Ohio last year — reinforcing the breadth of the state’s challenge with illegal fentanyl.
“These numbers are frightening if you look at them as numbers,” Yost added. “They are heartbreaking when you realize they were someone’s loved ones.”
Fentanyl update
As the largest criminal drug lab in the state, BCI’s laboratory tests a majority, but not all, of the drug evidence seized by law enforcement agencies in Ohio.
The BCI lab continues to process a high number of cases involving fentanyl, which in the first quarter of 2024 was the second-most-often identified substance in drug-evidence samples (after only methamphetamine). Since 2018, fentanyl has posed an increasingly larger public threat than heroin, whose prevalence has steadily declined in recent years.
Fentanyl is manufactured for doctors to control patients’ pain within a controlled environment. When fentanyl is illicitly manufactured in clandestine laboratories and mixed with other substances by drug traffickers — and/or used recreationally — it can be lethal.
Illicitly manufactured fentanyl often contains forms of fentanyl whose structure is chemically modified, making their potency and toxicity unknown. To date, BCI has identified at least 33 distinct versions of chemically modified fentanyl.
Fentanyl can be found in many forms, including pills and powder, and is often combined by traffickers with heroin, cocaine and/or other drugs. When consumed, complex mixtures of drugs can create dangerous interactions in the body, amplifying the danger. One sample recently analyzed by BCI contained 11 controlled substances.
Carfentanil update
Carfentanil, a fentanyl analogue that is roughly 100 times more potent than fentanyl and 10,000 times more potent than morphine, continues its ongoing presence in Ohio.
The drug was first detected in Ohio drug samples in 2016 and caused a spike in overdoses in 2017. Five years later, the public threat posed by carfentanil seemed to be abating, with BCI’s lab identifying the drug in only five samples in all of 2022.
In September of last year, however, AG Yost issued a warning about an uptick in carfentanil prevalence. Since Oct. 23, the BCI lab has identified a combined 36 items containing carfentanil in 14 counties, with the majority of those seized in northeastern Ohio.
Carfentanil is often found with other drugs and has been identified in market tablets and powders, including those similar in appearance to materials used to manufacture oxycodone tablets.
Safety
If you believe you have been exposed to fentanyl or carfentanil, you should seek immediate medical attention and notify law enforcement.
Law enforcement officers and first responders should wear proper personal protective equipment and use caution in handling evidence suspected of containing carfentanil or any fentanyl-related substance, particularly in cases where an overdose has occurred.
(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost testified before the House Criminal Justice Committee this afternoon in support of legislation Office Also Launches ‘HT 101’ Guide to Aid Communitiesthat would expand the eligibility of human trafficking survivors to have their criminal records expunged.
“Once the nightmare of human trafficking is over, many individuals begin another battle – putting their lives back together and starting over,” Yost said. “The journey to recovery is made even tougher when survivors are barred from employment, housing or education because of their past involvement with trafficking.”
House Bill 385, sponsored by Reps. Tracy Richardson (R-Marysville) and Josh Williams (R-Sylvania), would remove the predicate requirement for those applying for expungement of fourth- and fifth-degree felonies and all misdemeanors.
Currently, a trafficking survivor must have one of three predicate charges to be eligible to apply for expungement: solicitation, loitering to engage in solicitation, or prostitution.
“These predicate charges exclude both sex trafficking victims who were never convicted of those specific crimes, as well as labor trafficking victims, who would not have solicitation charges,” Yost testified. “The statute also ignores the modernization of traffickers, who increasingly use the internet and cellphones to commit their crimes.”
Survivors would still have to provide clear and convincing evidence that the crimes they committed resulted from being trafficked.
Also testifying during today’s hearing were multiple trafficking survivors, including Natasha Cooper, who serves on the Ambassador Advisory Commission of Yost’s Human Trafficking Initiative.
“Even though I have more than four years clean and have accomplished a great deal, I am still affected by my past,” Cooper told the House committee. “If I had my record expunged, this would help me move forward in life in so many ways — it would help me with more diverse employment opportunities, (provide) greater access to safe and stable housing and give me a sense of pride. I am a productive member of my community and want to be viewed for who I am not what my past charges have been.”
Yost also supported House Bill 385’s companion legislation in the Ohio Senate, Senate Bill 214, which has already passed out of the chamber.
On message with today’s testimony, AG Yost also announced a new “best practices” guide for addressing human trafficking in Ohio communities.
The publication, “Human Trafficking 101: Best Practices Guide to Raising Awareness in Your Community,” was developed by the Public Awareness Subcommittee of the Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Commission. It is intended as a “how to” resource for anti-trafficking coalitions and community leaders statewide.
“Human trafficking is happening in Ohio, and traffickers thrive when communities are in the dark about how to handle it,” Yost said. “This guide sheds light on the basics and gives everyone the same checklist for responding.”
The guide, available through the AG’s website, focuses on four main topics:
High-Level Essentials
Myth vs. Fact
Credible Resources
Checklists for Trainings
It provides a comprehensive overview of human trafficking as well as appropriate imagery and language for groups to use. It also emphasizes the importance of involving survivors in community discussions because of the unique knowledge and perspective that lived experience provides.
Yost created the Human Trafficking Initiative in 2019 to build awareness, empower Ohioans to take action in their communities, strengthen victim services throughout the state and ensure that traffickers and “johns” are brought to justice.
Mount Vernon – The Mount Gilead Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol is investigating a fatal traffic crash that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd, 2024 at approximately 4:41 PM, on Columbus Road in the City of Mount Vernon.
Jeffrey Davis, age 40, of Howard, Ohio, was operating a 2022 Kenworth T880 on Columbus Road traveling northeast. Robert Staats, age 73, of Mount Vernon, Ohio, was operating a 2006 Suzuki Burgman 650 scooter northeast on Columbus Road. Mr. Davis failed to keep an assured cleared distance ahead and struck Mr. Staats in the rear.
Mr. Staats was pronounced deceased on scene by medical personnel. Mr. Davis was wearing his seat belt at the time of the crash and was not injured. Mr. Staats was not wearing helmet at the time of the crash. Alcohol and drugs are not a suspected factor in the crash.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol was assisted on scene by Mount Vernon Police Department, Mount Vernon EMS, Mount Vernon Street Department, Knox County Coroner’s Office and Mount Vernon Law Director’s Office.
The traffic crash remains under investigation by the Mount Gilead Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — In an emergency motion filed today with the Ohio Supreme Court, Attorney General Dave Yost argues that a Franklin County judge overstepped his judicial authority by placing on hold the entirety of House Bill 68.
Yost’s filing contends that Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Michael Holbrook acted beyond the scope of his power on April 16 in granting a sweeping injunction that placed the entire law on hold for 14 days or until a hearing is held, whichever happens sooner.
“One judge from one county does not have more power than the governor’s veto pen,” Yost said about the injunction in the case.
The law contains several protections for Ohio families: It protects minors from experimental medical treatment, it protects parents from losing custody of their children, and it protects female student-athletes from facing males in competitions and locker rooms. Holbrook’s injunction put the whole law on hold for all Ohioans statewide, even though the plaintiffs in the case include just two families who are affected by only certain medical provisions of the law.
Holbrook’s injunction is unlawful, Yost writes, because it applies to the entire state, rather than just the two plaintiffs who challenged the law in a lawsuit filed on March 26. Judicial rules for common pleas courts state that preliminary injunctions can be broad only enough to protect the plaintiffs in a case.
Yost’s motion notes how Holbrook’s overly broad injunction not only is illegal but also harms Ohioans by preventing the protective law from taking effect. The motion asks the Ohio Supreme Court to narrow the injunction and order Holbrook to act within the limits of his judicial authority.
Court filings for the case are available on the Attorney General’s website.
CLEVELAND – Federal, state, and local law enforcement officials announce the unsealing of a superseding indictment charging 15 members of the Fully Blooded Felons, a criminal street gang that was active in Northeast Ohio and in the Ohio prison system. The gang members were charged for their roles in a drug trafficking conspiracy involving their importing and distributing fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, and buprenorphine in Northeast Ohio, and their illegal possession of firearms. Three defendants have been in federal custody since December 2023. Authorities have arrested several newly charged defendants. They transported several of them to federal court in Cleveland, while the others are in custody elsewhere.
This announcement is made by United States Attorney Rebecca C. Lutzko, FBI Special Agent in Charge Gregory Nelsen, and Cleveland Division of Police Chief Dorothy Todd.
“The indictment alleges that Raven Mullins and other members of the Fully Blooded Felons operated an open-air drug market, distributing the deadliest types of drugs sold on Cleveland’s streets. This organization is charged not only with peddling such poisons in Cleveland’s Cedar Estates neighborhood, but also with actively plotting to recruit persons to infiltrate the Ohio prison system to distribute drugs there so gang members could reap the profits,” said United States Attorney Rebecca C. Lutzko. “This indictment and these arrests are a product of the dedication, cooperation, and tireless efforts of Northern District of Ohio federal, state, and local law enforcement partners who, working together, identified and disrupted this criminal organization. Because of these efforts, the many law-abiding members of the Cedar Estates neighborhood have a real opportunity to come together and make positive changes.”
“This operation and subsequent arrests underscore the FBIs mission to investigate, disrupt, and dismantle gangs not only in the larger cities across America, but also right here in northern Ohio,” said FBI Cleveland Special Agent in Charge Greg Nelsen. “Identifying criminal networks takes careful coordination and collaboration. We are proud to partner with the agencies that make up the FBI Safe Streets Gang Task Force, which includes the Cleveland Division of Police, Ohio Adult Parole Authority, and the Ohio Investigative Unit. In addition, the United States Marshals Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Cleveland’s Third District played a major role in this operation. We thank them as well as our other federal, state, and local partners who work seamlessly together to protect our communities and keep offenders off the streets.”
The following defendants are charged in the 33-count superseding indictment:
Deon Blackwell, aka White Boy, 37, Cleveland, Ohio
The defendants were all charged in a conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances. Additionally, six defendants were charged with possession with intent to distribute controlled substances offenses, five defendants were charged with illegal possession of firearms, and five defendants were charged with possessing firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes. One defendant was charged with interstate travel in aid of racketeering, and 11 defendants were charged with using a communications facility to facilitate a felony drug offense.
The superseding indictment alleges that between as early as January 2022, and continuing through April 2, 2024, the defendants did knowingly and intentionally conspire with each other to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute mixtures and substances containing fentanyl, a Schedule II controlled substance, methamphetamine, a Schedule II controlled substance, cocaine, a Schedule II controlled substance, cocaine base (“crack”), a Schedule II controlled substance, and buprenorphine, a Schedule III controlled substance.
According to court documents, Raven Mullins and other defendants operated an organized gang hierarchy that committed violent acts, possessed and transferred firearms, and distributed controlled substances in Northeast Ohio. The Fully Blooded Felons used two apartments at the Cedar Estates in Cleveland, Ohio, to store controlled substances and firearms and to distribute different controlled substances to customers. Subordinate gang members used a grassy area immediately adjacent to the Cedar Estates, and the area surrounding the 28th Street Liquor Store, to distribute controlled substances to customers at the direction of Raven Mullins and other high-ranking members. The superseding indictment alleges that Elijah Johnson travelled to Texas and Arizona to obtain kilogram quantities of pills containing fentanyl, which he then supplied to Fully Blooded Felon members for distribution in Northeast Ohio. Additionally, the superseding indictment alleges that the Fully Blooded Felons operated a drug smuggling and distribution ring inside numerous Ohio state prisons and federal detention centers.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
If convicted, each defendant’s sentence will be determined by the Court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum, and, in most cases, it will be less than the maximum.
This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations.
The specific mission of the OCDETF Cleveland Strike Force is to disrupt and dismantle major criminal organizations and subsidiary organizations, including criminal gangs, transnational drug cartels, racketeering organizations, and other groups engaged in illicit activities that present a threat to public safety and national security and are related to the illegal smuggling and trafficking of narcotics or other controlled substances, weapons, humans, or the illegal concealment or transfer of proceeds derived from such illicit activities in the Northern District of Ohio. The OCDETF Cleveland Strike Force consists of agents and officers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Homeland Security Investigations, the United States Marshals Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Border Patrol, and the Cleveland Division of Police. The prosecution is being led by the Office of the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.
The investigation preceding the superseding indictment was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Safe Streets Task Force, the Cleveland Division of Police’s Third District and Gang Impact Unit, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Ohio State Highway Patrol, the Ohio Adult Parole Authority, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, and the Ohio Investigative Unit. The United States Marshals Service coordinated the arrests of those defendants apprehended.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert J. Kolansky and Paul E. Hanna, with assistance from Trial Attorneys Brian W. Lynch and Alyssa Levey-Weinstein of the Justice Department’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section.
Joe Lyons •
May 14, 2024
(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost today announced $10.25 million in three multistate settlements with the largest wireless carriers in the United States to resolve the 50 attorneys general investigations into deceptive and misleading advertising practices.
Mount Vernon – The Mount Gilead Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol is investigating a fatal traffic crash that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd, 2024 at approximately 4:41 PM, on Columbus Road in the City of Mount Vernon.
CLEVELAND – Federal, state, and local law enforcement officials announce the unsealing of a superseding indictment charging 15 members of the Fully Blooded Felons, a criminal street gang that was active in Northeast Ohio and in the Ohio prison system. The gang members were charged for their roles in a drug trafficking conspiracy involving their importing and distributing fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, and buprenorphine in Northeast Ohio, and their illegal possession of firearms. Three defendants have been in federal custody since December 2023. Authorities have arrested several newly charged defendants. They transported several of them to federal court in Cleveland, while the others are in custody elsewhere.