BY RANDY McNUTT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Lt. Johnny Miller oversees the Warren County sheriff's Web site.
(Dick Swaim photo)
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LEBANON -- Warren County Sheriff Tom Ariss and his colleagues around Ohio are pursuing criminals in cyberspace.
About 16 Ohio sheriffs, rural and urban, now operate their own Internet sites, providing everything from photographs of criminals to crime-prevention tips and the latest news.
"We've had a good response since we started our site in March 1996," said Lt. Johnny Miller, who oversees computers for the Warren County sheriff. "We've had some crime tips on drug activities, and we've had a lot of e-mail on issues. It's a lot more convenient for people. They can give us more information and they get more privacy."
Eventually, all county sheriffs should go online to provide news bulletins on wanted criminals and tips on how to avoid becoming a victim, the Buckeye State Sheriffs Association said.
"It's a great way to exchange information, and it's a great resource," said Bob Cornwell, the group's executive director.
So far, Internet sites have been set up by sheriffs in Allen, Delaware, Fairfield, Fayette, Franklin, Hamilton, Highland, Madison, Mahoning, Marion, Montgomery, Ottawa, Ross, Scioto, Stark and Warren counties.
Generally, their Web sites include photographs of deputies on the job, facilities and local events. In time, some sheriffs say they will use the Internet to list jail inmates and the charges against them.
"You can search the Ohio Revised Code on our page, you can find other sheriffs' pages, administrative personnel, notices for hiring and postings for upcoming law-enforcement training so other officers can see what kind of training we'll have coming up," Lt. Miller said. "We also have feedback forms for the people to give us tips and suggestions."
Before he became the sheriff's computer guru, Lt. Miller was a road officer. He bought a computer at home and became involved with jail-management software.
"I had no real formal computer training," he said. "I read books on the subject. This stuff just clicked with me, the more I did it. Now I take care of all the networking and anything to do with computers."
The sheriff's Web site at http://www.co.warren.oh.us/sheriff/sheriff.html has won three awards: Law Enforcement for Cops on the Net, 1997; the Gold Ten Award for 1997; and the Code Three Award for Excellence, in 1998. He said more than 3,600 people have visited the sheriff's Web site in the last 18 months.
The sheriff's Internet pages also include pages for the elderly and related issues. The site also maintains links to other law-enforcement agencies.
"Eventually, I'd like to put on some crime statistics to show what we've done yearly, monthly and weekly," Lt. Miller said. "The site is an information tool. We want to let people know who we are and what we do."
That is also a goal of Highland County Sheriff Tom Horst, who said his Web site has received 2,322 hits in six or seven months. He said it -- and e-mail -- is useful for people in a rural county.
"It's working well, but we don't have it perfected yet," he said of his site. "We're adding our most-wanted list and deadbeat dads. We have our code of ethics and a history of our sheriff's office and of the county. We even have arrest statistics and our DARE page and the county's sheriffs going back to the late 1800s."
Even in rural Chillicothe's Ross County, thousands of people have tapped into the sheriff's Web site. "I was really astonished," Sheriff Ron Nichols said. "I was really amazed it was used that much."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
