Who We Are – The Ohio Investigative Unit began as Liquor Control ( some still refer to it as such but this is not correct).  In 1995, the enforcement section of the Department of Commerce Division of Liquor Control was moved from Department of Commerce to the Department of Public Safety and Enforcement Agents were given 12 sections of Title 29, along with all civil and criminal liquor violations (Title 43).  At this point all new hire persons and existing Agents who had not received training were to complete an O.P.O.T.A. Police Academy.  They were now known as “Liquor Enforcement”.  There existed, at the time, a small, statewide unit within Public Safety which investigated food stamp trafficking and violations.  In 1998, legislation was passed and the Investigative Unit was created by the merging of the two units.  All Agents were now “Enforcement Agents” with full title 29 authority (and title 43), within their scope of authority. 

 

Authority – Pursuant to section 5502.01 and defined in section 2935.01 and described in 5502.14 ORC, Enforcement Agents are considered peace officers and given authority to operate as such in arrests, detentions, issuing citations within their scope of authority.  This allows Agents who are working to make arrests for a wide range of criminal activity they observe as long as they are operating on a liquor permit premise, across the street, or adjacent to that property, or investigating a liquor/food stamp (EBT) case.  An example would be an Agent issuing a person a misdemeanor citation for an open container and then witnessing an assault across the street.  The Agent has authority to make the arrest for the assault.

 

Jurisdiction – Enforcement Agents of the Ohio Investigative Unit have statewide jurisdiction, within their scope of authority (on permit premise, across street, adjacent to, or investigating liquor/food stamp case).  The Investigative Unit currently has over 60 Agents throughout Ohio.  The central office/headquarters is in Columbus, with district offices in Columbus, Cincinnati, Athens, Canton, Cleveland, and Toledo.  Each office has a number of counties assigned to it.  The Columbus office currently serves 10 surrounding counties, including Franklin and is located on Alum Creek Drive, Columbus.

 

General Duties – The Ohio Investigative Unit is the only law enforcement agency with the authority to cite a liquor permit premise for a violations and make a criminal arrest of the employees committing the activity.  As such, working with local law enforcement is a big part of the job.  Officers within their jurisdiction may make a criminal case and forward the case to the Ohio Investigative Unit so that a citation against a permit premise may be issued, but if an Agent is working with them, the citation can be issued at the time the criminal charges are served.  Agents work in teams of two or more and make many liquor related cases (underage drinking, serving underage, intoxication violations, prostitution cases in bars, etc), but during the course of these cases, other criminal cases are made as well (drug possession, assault, disorderly conduct, etc).  As a general rule, Agents will tell people to think of the Agency as Ohio A.T.F. (Alcohol, Tobacco, and Food stamps!) or think of it as a statewide vice unit.  Agents work tobacco enforcement through Federal grants and with the Federal government within their authority on a regular basis.    Agents work off of complaints called in to their office from a variety of sources which can be for underage drinking , drugs, gambling, etc.  Agents also regularly patrol areas of criminal activity within their assigned counties, such as OSU area for underage drinking and providing safety for the students while on plainclothes patrol.

 

Contact -  All Ohio Investigative Unit offices are listed on line with contact addresses and phone numbers.  The local office is located at 1583 Alum Creek Drive, Room M-101, Columbus, OH  43209.  The office phone number is 614-644-2413.