The Dr. Dominic A. and Helen M. Bitonte College of Health and Human Services at Youngstown State University will recognize alumni, faculty and staff at its 10th annual Alumni Recognition Dinner at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 22 at the Embassy in Boardman.
      This year’s honorees include for Boardman police officer and current Special Agent in Charge/Northern District of Ohio of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) Jim Ciotti, of Boardman, for his career in criminal justice and forensic sciences.
      Ciotti graduated from YSU with a bachelor’s degree in 1992 and a master’s degree in 1994, both in criminal justice, where he concluded his education with a 3.89 gpa. He is a certified peace officer by the Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission and a graduate of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) National Academy.
      Ciotti began his law enforcement career at the Jacksonville, N.C. Police Department before returning home where he served with the Boardman Police Department from 1991-1996.
      From 1988-1991, Ciotti worked as a producer of television news for WYTV in Youngstown, and from 1984-86 was a reporter for WRDW-TV in Augusta, Ga.
      Currently, Ciotti is the special agent in charge for the Northern District of Ohio with BCI. He was also attached to the Ohio Organized Crime Investigation Commission, and has served on numerous task forces, including the Mahoning Valley Drug Task Force and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
      His career with the Ohio BCI included an assignment from 2001-2004 with the Ohio Organized Crime Investigation Commission, that included investigations into traditional and non-traditional organized crime groups.
      In Sept., 2009, he was promoted to BCI’s special agent/supervisor of the northwest region of Ohio that covers 22 counties; an assignment that included oversight of standards of the commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA).
      As special agent in charge of investigation for the northern district of Ohio, his territory covers 44 counties with three regional offices and an annual budget of some $8 million.
      Special Agent Ciotti has served as a criminal justice instructor at Kent State University, Baldwin-Wallace University and Youngstown State University.
      In 2007, he was named Investigator of the Year by the Mahoning County Chiefs of Police Association, and in 2010 he was recognized for investigations in to narcotics trafficking, including street-level dealers to major narcotics distribution networks.
      From 2013-2015 he supervised a specialized BCI squad dealing with crimes against children, ranging from child homicide to internet solicitation and child pornography.
      As a youngster, Ciotti, who is a Boardman High School graduate, always knew he wanted to be a law enforcement officer.
      “When I was 11-years-old, I rode my bicycle to the Boardman Police Station (5105 Market St.) and asked how to get a job,” he recalls, noting his appointment as a Boardman police officer “was the culmination of a lifelong dream.”