Outside eyes are helpful

Outside eyes are helpful

Every time an area police depart- ment is forced to investigate the actions of its own members, a question naturally arises: Shouldn’t there be a better way?

Whether the investigation involves a police officer involved in a traffic accident in which there was serious injury or death, an egregious case of alleged misconduct or a shooting incident, the public is asked to trust that members of the department are capable of investigating their colleagues with the same sense of detachment that they are expected to bring to any investigation.

Perhaps so, but in any case, some portion of the public remains skeptical, even suspicious.

The possible conflict is rather easily avoided in traffic accidents by immediately turning the investigation over to the Ohio State Highway Patrol. A parallel agency for the investigation of cases that might involve criminal charges could be the Ohio attorney general’s office, which oversees the state Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation.

Cities, counties or townships that would use such services should be expected to reimburse the office for its expenses, since there is no room in the state budget for the expansion of operations. But in the long run, that would be money well spent by the local entities, whose primary interest is to provide a transparent and impartial investigation that serves to build public confidence in the local safety forces.