An expert in the field of crime scene investigation put in his last day of work Wednesday at the Logan County Sheriff’s Office, with nearly 33 years of service to the agency and community after solving many crimes and delving into complex cases.
Detective Phil Bailey said among of the most rewarding aspects of his career has been “getting answers for victims and their families.
“Sometimes, the truth isn’t pretty, but it is always important to get to the root of what happened and to give closure to the family. It is so crucial for them to know what happened to their loved one.”
Relating to crime scene investigations, Detective Bailey advised newly promoted Detective Shawn McIntire, who will replace him, that “nothing is textbook and every case presents a challenge. You have to work through it.”
The longtime Logan County resident and 1987 Graham High School graduate said he graduated from the police academy in 1989. He began working at the sheriff’s office as a corrections officer, serving for 14 years in that capacity, including at the former jail in downtown Bellefontaine.
During his time at the jail, he became interested in assisting with crime scene photography and around 2001, he began officially working in the evidence and crime scene investigation capacity for the LCSO, including managing the evidence room. In 2008, he also began overseeing the sex offender registration and follow-up processes in Logan County.
For his investigative duties, Detective Bailey has attended many in-depth trainings on those topics, including death investigations, in locations that have spanned around Ohio and also at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He has attained his master of evidence technician from the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy as well.
Also for the past 20 years, Detective Bailey has been involved as an investigator working with the Logan County Coroner’s Office.
While working on some particularly difficult scenes involving death and violence, the detective said an individual does become somewhat accustomed to it, but even a seasoned professional can be rattled when the investigation involves a child victim.
“The younger the victim, the harder it can be,” said the father of two boys, ages 19 and 22.
Over the past 30 years, the detective said the evolution of technology in his field has been nothing short of amazing, including the DNA evidence that is now so helpful in solving past cases.
“It is crazy the technology that we have today. DNA technology is a major game changer. For example, I just recently submitted DNA from a 1975 death for further processing.
“The changes in photography have become so advanced as well. I used to develop photos in the dark room, but now everything is digitized and the quality of cell phone and security camera videos can be very helpful in our investigations as well.”
Detective McIntire has been training with the retiring detective for the past several weeks. The new detective was hired at the sheriff’s office in 2014 and completed the police academy in 2018. Last year, he began patrol duties with the LCSO.
While the retiree said he wasn’t sure of what might come next for him, he had already changed the ringtone for his phone and would be happy to not receive the familiar 2:30 a.m. phone calls when a case would break.
“I’m looking forward to not receiving those middle-of-the night calls and not setting an alarm,” he said with a laugh.
“I’m still figuring out how to close this chapter. While I’ll be officially retired, there are still several court cases that I will be making appearances at. I’m happy to be finishing that out to help the victims and their families.”