Say "Ahhh" To Nice Cop
Open wide and say “ahhhhh”. This use to be a phrase exclusive to the dental profession. Now you can expect to hear that from the next police officer that arrests you.
On July 1st, 2010, Senate Bill 77( S.B. 77) went into effect. This bill represents the State of Ohio’s early attempts to bring Law Enforcement into the 21st century. The bill effectively changes the investigative component of Law Enforcement and how an investigator does their job.
There are three components to the bill. The DNA Component, the custodial interview component and the lineup component. Each component has either drastically changed the way investigators do their work or added totally new requirements that never existed.
The most invasive component is the DNA requirement. Starting in mid 2011, every person arrested and booked on a felony charge at a police station will be required to surrender a DNA sample to the booking officer. The DNA then will be preserved by the department. It will also require Police Departments to retain DNA evidence for a much longer period of time than they do now.
The next component is the custodial interrogation. All interrogations are now required to be audio recorded. This requirement went into effect July 1st, 2010. A recording of an interview or an interrogation has never had to have any documentation other than a signed waiver of rights from the suspect and his signature at the end of a written statement produced from the interrogation.
It is probably important to note here that not every conversation with a police officer is a custodial interview. A short and quick definition of a custodial interview would be defined as, when a custodial interview is performed, that means you are not leaving the station on your own. Any time an officer interviews you and you are free to leave any time you want, that is not a custodial interrogation and it does not have to be recorded
The third component affected by the law is the lineup. Contrary to popular belief, a lineup is something rarely used in police work anymore. The most common lineup is called the photo lineup. This lineup was performed by taking a photo of the suspect, and placing it in a picture frame like setting with 5 other pictures. The person asked to look at the lineup would then point out the one in six that they felt committed the crime. All of those procedures have been thrown out the window.
Should you be asked to sit in on a lineup, you would be placed at a desk. An officer not involved in the investigation would hand you ten numbered envelopes one at a time. In nine of the envelopes will be a picture, one envelope has nothing in it (nobody has yet figured out a good reason for the empty envelope) and you would look at each picture by taking it out of the envelope, then putting it back in and going to the next one. When you were done you would tell the officer which envelope had the picture of the suspect in it by identifying the number of the envelope
In everyday life, change is always difficult. When you change procedures that have not changed in 3 generations, life can be more challenging. Needless to say, the sudden change in these procedures has created several obstacles that law enforcement agencies must contend with.
For example, the collection of DNA from every felony arrest will be a challenge for every property room officer who already has trouble finding room for items, and now must find a place to store something that will be there long after they retire. The cost of purchasing the necessary supplies to retrieve the DNA will be an added monetary burden to already tight budgets that have resulted in the loss of services and layoffs in a lot of departments. Many departments did not have the necessary equipment to record interrogations and again must find the funds somewhere in their budgets to come into compliance with the new law
There are, however, advantages to the law, that will help streamline the process and should result in a greater conviction rate. One advantage comes from the fact that an officer does not have to show that a confession was valid. With everything now recorded, the burden is now on the suspect to prove that he did not give a voluntary confession.
The Database created by the DNA will become invaluable in the investigation of felony offenses. It is a very rare person that does not leave DNA of some type at a crime scene. Since most felony crimes are committed by repeat offenses, the large database will make it much easier to find the person involved.
There has been a great change in how society functions in the last 30 years and S.B. 77 is an attempt to bring law enforcement in line with the technological and sociological changes that has occurred in our society. Since all of the law and procedures are new, they have not yet been tested by the appeals court system and it will be interesting to see if the bill still resembles it’ self in five years when the courts are done ruling on it. But, are not those the things that make life interesting?