Youngstown police begin major training upgrade

By JOE GORMAN

jgorman@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Beginning last week, the police department began a major upgrade in the training some of their detectives undergo.

Detective Sgt. Dave Sweeney was the first member of the detective bureau to attend the homicide/death investigations course at the Southern Police Institute at the University of Louisville in Kentucky.

The course is one of the most comprehensive in law enforcement, which lasts about two weeks. Most training courses last from three to five days.

The goal, said Capt. Brad Blackburn, chief of detectives, is to have all the detectives who investigate homicides and other deaths to attend the training this year.

The cost of the two-week course is $1,295, although Chief Robin Lees said the department is getting a bit of a discount because they will be sending so many investigators.

Topics for the course, according to the SPI website, include clandestine graves; investigating sexual homicides; cold cases; preparing for court and testifying; analyzing blood stains; investigating suicides and childhood deaths, including SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome); and homicides caused by blunt or sharp objects.

Lees said a former officer, the recently retired Detective Sgt. D.P. Scott, who headed up the crime lab, attended a training session at the SPI and recommended it to the department.

Blackburn said the department’s homicide detectives get a good deal of on-the-job training, and typically attend basic homicide-training sessions sponsored by the Ohio Peace Officers Training Academy. He said, however, the type of training SPI offers is a good way to expose the detectives to different methods in investigations.

“This is a little refresher and it’s more in depth,” Blackburn said. “It definitely helps to get a different perspective on things.”

Lees said one of the best things about the course is detectives who graduate can add it to their list of qualifications, which is something that could be used in court before a jury when they are asked what kind of training they have received.

Blackburn said one of the things he likes about the course is it also touches on investigations for deaths that are not homicides. He said those types of cases, which often involve an overdose or a person who has died with no around, are a large part of a detective’s workload, and their ability to clear up those cases quickly frees them up to deal with other cases.

Detectives are not the only members of the department who are involved in homicide cases, however. The patrol officers who respond to a call are important as well, Lees said. He said those officers receive training in how to handle a homicide scene and other topics at least twice a year through in-service training.