Sheriff tells Patrol to 'back off'

FREMONT — Sandusky County Sheriff Chris Hilton shut down a planned human trafficking sting by a state agency over concerns that local law enforcement was being excluded and local investigations could be disrupted."In no way will I condone (the Ohio Investigative Unit/the Ohio State Highway Patrol) organizing and conducting an operation like this in Sandusky County without our (agency) being the lead in the planning and execution of such an operation," Hilton wrote to Tom Stickrath, the director of of the Ohio Department of Public Safety.Hilton said the state attempted a similar operation earlier this summer excluding local law enforcement and he objected at that time."All of the concerns I had with the original 'sting' that was going to be conducted back in July were never addressed," he told Stickrath, who was appointed director of public safety in January by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine.Read: State responds to complaintThe Ohio Investigative Unit is a branch of the Ohio State Patrol and is comprised of "fully-sworn, plainclothes peace officers responsible for enforcing Ohio's alcohol, tobacco and food stamp fraud laws," according to a state website. "Agents investigate suspected illegal activity in liquor permit premises (bars, restaurants, carryouts, etc.). Investigations may be related to locations operating without a permit or to drug, gambling, counterfeiting or property crimes. Agents also investigate the illegal manufacture of alcohol, as well as businesses and individuals involved in food stamp fraud." It's not clear how the investigative unit's authority was extended to human trafficking or why the state wants to operate independently from local law enforcement agencies and a federal task force. An inquiry sent to Stickrath Wednesday afternoon was not immediately addressed by him.Hilton said two state agents met with his chief deputy Sept. 3 and asked if the sheriff's office wanted to be part of a sting planned for mid-September. The request was made, however, after all the planning and preparation was all done. That planning was inadequate, Hilton said, because it did not address the need for judicial hearings and jail space that would be needed if the sting netted the number of arrests they anticipated, and for other reasons.The sting was canceled, according to a source.Hilton listed a number of concerns with how the state was extending its reach:• Intel about any specific human trafficking occurring in the county should be immediately shared with local law enforcement.• Independent operations by the state could disrupt ongoing investigations being conducted by local law enforcement and could adversely impact those operations. • Excluding local prosecutors from the planning hampers their abilities to successfully prosecute cases. • The sheriff's office has a detective assigned to the FBI's Ohio Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, which has worked with local law enforcement on local concerns and has a higher level of experience than the Highway patrol has in dealing with human trafficking crime."I do not believe that the Ohio State Patrol should be using the Ohio Investigative Unit to facilitate these types of investigations minus local law enforcement involvement or the federal task force involvement," Hilton wrote to Stickrath.He said the OSP is stretching the boundaries of its jurisdiction and purpose of the OIU "to branch out into things outside the scope of its job description.""The Ohio State Patrol should stick to handling crashes and enforcing the traffic code," Hilton wrote. Staff shortages at local Patrol posts could be alleviated if "the Patrol had fewer 'investigative units' and more troopers at the local posts keeping our roads safe," Hilton told Stickrath. StickrathSandusky County Sheriff Chris Hilton