Police to Testify by Two-Way Video

Strongsville is in line to start presenting cases to the grand jury by two-way video instead of in-person appearances.

Police Chief Charles Goss said when he heard about the idea, he jumped at it.

"We wanted to be first in line," Goss said. "It will save us the time of going downtown and back."

Goss said he believes the police station, which is already linked to Berea Municipal Court for video arraignments, will be able to start video grand jury testimony by the end of the month.

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason is pushing for all the police departments in the county to start video conferencing within the next few months.

Members of a grand jury and prosecutors will be able to see the police officer on a big screen. The officer will be able to see the grand jury room on a computer.

Currently, officers must travel downtown to present felony cases to a grand jury, which takes hours of time, plus gasoline costs. And once there, they often must wait hours for their turn to testify.

"We're sending someone downtown just for that purpose, and it's a frequent occurrence," Goss said.

 Some of the county's police departments are already using video conferencing, while others are awaiting testing and a few must still be hooked up.