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YPD mulls tweaking homicide investigations
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
They probably still will work long hours, but the city police department is considering tweaking the way detectives conduct homicide investigations.
Lt. Doug Bobovnyik of the detective bureau said Thursday they now want to augment the traditional two-detective team that investigates homicides with other detectives who will monitor social media and help prepare search warrants.
Bobovnyik was speaking as the bureau continues investigating the city’s latest homicide, in which three people have been charged with aggravated murder in the death of Daniel Sanford, 28, who was found shot to death late Monday in a house on Belden Avenue.
The two-man team that investigated that case, Detective Sgts. Ron Rodway and Michael Lambert, were called out about 11:50 p.m. Monday and did not stop working until 3 p.m. Tuesday. In that time, they were able to get warrants for three men in the death of Sanford: Lorenzo Hilton, 26, and Vincent Reber, 21, who both are being treated for gunshot wounds as a result of trading gunfire with Sanford; and Reber’s brother, Derrick, 19, who was arrested in Pittsburgh Wednesday with airplane tickets to Miami.
Vincent Reber and Hilton are in St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital on a police hold, while Derrick Reber will return to Youngstown once an extradition hearing takes place or if he waives his hearing.
Bobovnyik lauded Lambert and Rodway for their work and in securing arrests quickly.
“They relentlessly worked this case,” Bobovnyik said.
Bobovnyik said the Sanford case also illustrates some of the complexities of modern-day homicide investigations, such as the work needed to monitor social media postings of victims and suspects, inspect their phones or computers and to prepare search warrants – especially warrants to get a DNA sample.
Typically, when the department investigates a homicide, a team of two detectives is assigned to each case along with either Bobovnyik or the other supervisor in the bureau, Capt. Brad Blackburn. For the most part, the detective team is responsible for everything from examining the crime scene to interviewing witnesses and suspects, preparing affidavits for search warrants and securing any electronic evidence or looking for evidence on social media.
“It’s too overwhelming for a two-person detective team to handle,” Bobovnyik said.
Police Chief Robin Lees said the changes Bobovnyik is talking about would be a “formalization” of common practices already, in which detectives who are well-acquainted with social media or electronics or are good at formulating search warrants already are pitching in.
Though detectives have more evidence to gather now, Lees said that is a plus, because the new evidence comes from sources that were not available to investigators until recently because of the advent of new technology and advances in gathering DNA evidence.
By having detectives who can help with warrants and analyzing electronic and social media evidence, that can free up the other two detectives to focus more on interviews with witnesses and suspects, Bobovnyik said.
He said some details, such as if the extra detectives actually get called out to crime scenes as well, still are being ironed out. Search warrants also can be time-consuming, Bobovnyik said.
“There are multiple search warrants involved in a homicide investigation,” Bobovnyik said.