BCI often investigates police shootings. What is this agency and what can it do?

When a police officer shoots someone in Ohio, it is becoming increasingly common for local law enforcement to call on the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation to conduct an investigation.

But what does it mean when BCI investigates?

What is BCI?

The state agency reports to the Ohio Attorney General's Office and performs multiple law enforcement services. Agents there can identify people, perform background checks, gather and analyze forensic evidence and more.

In recent years, the bureau says it can offer an independent eye in the wake of a fatal shooting. Between 2020 and 2022, the agency reports it has investigated 178 officer-involved critical incidents. While many of these incidents involve civilians shot by police, this number also includes some instances of police officers being killed or injured.

In the wake of George Floyd's death, the nation began taking a closer look at what was happening to police officers who took the lives of people. With that, came more investigations by the state agency.

“No government does anything that’s more serious than when a use of deadly force results in the death of a citizen. That is the biggest deal a government ever does outside of conducting a war," Yost said, but noted nearly all the investigations show the officers were in the right.

Bureau investigations are limited

Experts and activists agree these independent investigations are a great first step toward reaching fair conclusions to critical incidents, but the state's criminal investigation bureau is limited.

Currently, the agency must be invited to investigate by the police department that was involved in the incident.

Some departments have standing agreements with the bureau, but these agencies represent a fraction of the more than 900 agencies in Ohio.

The bureau cannot, by law, declare whether an officer committed a crime or committed any wrongdoing. It cannot bring charges against officers.

The final bureau report into a shooting or death is turned over to the local elected country prosecutors who work closely with police on a daily basis.

Some have criticized these prosecutors calling them biased, but prosecutors argue that if they are being biased, they can be voted out.

What else Ohio could be doing

While the bureau's investigations have their limits, independent investigations are only one tool to increase police accountability. Governor Mike DeWine and Yost have backed other reform efforts, the most significant being a professional licensing system for police officers in Ohio.

However, legislators have failed to enact any of these reforms.

The license system, as proposed, would work like the systems for lawyers, doctors, teachers and nurses.

“You have to have a license to practice law, to be plumber… to be a home health aide emptying bedpans at a nursing home,” Yost said, but added that creating the system is complicated. "While I would like to see them move more quickly, we also have to take the time to get this right.”

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: BCI investigates police shootings, but what can the agency really do?