Mission Statement:
The Coroner’s Office and Laboratory plays a major role in providing for the safety and well being of the citizens of Cuyahoga County. The constitutional and statutory duty of the Coroner is to investigate sudden or unexpected deaths, violent deaths or suspicious deaths with impartiality and competence through scene investigation, autopsy and toxicology examinations, and forensic scientific examinations. Complete documentation including photographs and accurate reports are maintained. The results are provided to law enforcement officials, the legal and medical community, the families and the public. Courts of law and other legal, medical and public agencies use medical and scientific information obtained from the investigation of these deaths.
The Coroner’s Laboratory supports the investigative functions of the Coroner and staff. The Laboratory performs scientific examinations in the areas of Forensic Pathology, Trace Evidence, Serology, DNA, Parentage and identification, Audio and Video Analysis, Computer Forensics, Toxicology, Controlled Substance Analysis, and Forensic Chemistry.
The Coroner’s Office utilizes and makes available the information gathered from these investigations to those citizens and personnel who have an interest in developing ways to prevent these types of tragic deaths from happening in the future. Data is also utilized to monitor the effectiveness of publicly funded projects that are already in place and to identify gaps in the system.
Goals:
| Goal 1: |
To complete fair and impartial death investigations in a timely manner.
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| Goal 2: |
To improve the quality of the Laboratory and add advanced scientific techniques to the testing menus.
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| Goal 3: |
Significantly increase the Coroner’s Laboratory fund, reducing the General Fund budget.
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| Goal 4: |
To increase the level of disaster preparedness for the Office.
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| Goal 5: |
Retain experienced employees in various departments. |