{"id":191778,"date":"2025-04-18T22:00:19","date_gmt":"2025-04-19T03:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=191778"},"modified":"2025-04-20T21:04:03","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T02:04:03","slug":"riggenbach-body-cams-a-welcome-addition-to-department","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2025\/04\/18\/riggenbach-body-cams-a-welcome-addition-to-department\/","title":{"rendered":"Sheriff: Body cams a welcome addition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s been nearly six months since deputies with the Van Wert County Sheriff\u2019s Office started using body cameras and according to Sheriff Tom Riggenbach, the addition has been well received by his department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey like having everything that transpires on video because they allow the deputies to go back to their body camera video to help them complete their reports and make sure they have all the information they need from conversations or conducting interviews with people on various calls,\u201d Riggenbach said. \u201cI think there\u2019s a level of comfort from them because sometimes there might be somebody who is unhappy with how something played out and they may file a complaint and deputies know everything that transpired is on that body camera video.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Van Wert County Sheriff’s Deputy James Roehm is shown wearing one of the department’s new body cameras. Scott Truxell\/Van Wert independent<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Riggenbach added the footage, which is reviewed, can be used for ongoing training purposes and he said in certain situations, body cameras can actually help de-escalate matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe individual sees the body camera and they\u2019re advised it\u2019s active and for whatever reason, something clicks with them and at a minimum be the start of de-escalation,\u201d he said. \u201cWith good communication from the deputies to the individual or individuals they\u2019re working with they\u2019re able to bring the heat of the moment down pretty quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Videos are stored for a period of time but the length varies from 30-45 for minor matters up to 2-3 years for more involved situations, including certain misdemeanors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThose things are somewhat set by statute and they\u2019re somewhat set by our record retention policy,\u201d Riggenbach said. We have 15-18 different retention categories that all this body camera video gets labeled with to work toward having the proper retention time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deputies were outfitted with body cameras November 1, 2024. Prior to that, there was training for all deputies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe training process — we initially had a webinar with the vendor with a handful of my administrative and supervisory staff on how the system works, then that training included what other resources were for us to be able to utilize and get out to the employees,\u201d Riggenbach said. \u201cThe initial training was recorded so we were able to push all this out to the employees for them to be able to go through,” the sheriff added. “We created a window of time for everybody to get that completed then be able ask any questions or present any concerns that had.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Body cameras are turned on for nearly every interaction with the public, but there are some exceptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The addition of body cameras also meant the development of a policy for their use. The Sheriff\u2019s Office uses CORSA (County Risk Sharing Authority) policies, which has adaptable policies in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe took a look at that and we took a look at body camera policy through the Ohio Collabrative, as well as some other sheriff\u2019s office policies, to really get a good grasp on all the different things to take into consideration,\u201d Riggenbach stated. \u201cI thought we put something together that works real well and is consistent with best practices, state law and, probably most importantly, being able to honor privacy for our citizens in situations where a body camera is not required under the law. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“There are circumstances where the homeowner might say \u2018I don\u2019t want to be recorded, I don\u2019t want you recording inside my home\u2019 and under certain circumstances within the policy we can honor that,\u201d he added. \u201cIf it\u2019s a situation where we\u2019re executing an arrest warrant on an individual, that request doesn\u2019t fit the policy that we have in place and so the body camera would not be shut off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January 2024, it was announced the Sheriff\u2019s Office would receive a state grant of just over $160,000 to purchase body cameras. However, that amount was only half of what was requested, leaving Riggenbach to figure out how to pay the remaining balance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI entered into an agreement with the vendor and I\u2019ll be making an annual payment (10 years) that goes toward paying off that cost,\u201d Riggenbach explained. \u201cThe progam includes some different updates and new cameras periodically so it really came down to finding an opportunity and a program that was going to allow me to spread out the remaining cost over a period of time with an amount that I could work into my budget.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Van Wert Police Department was outfitted with body cameras last year and troopers at the Van Wert Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol started using them in 2022.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent editor It\u2019s been nearly six months since deputies with the Van Wert County Sheriff\u2019s Office started using body cameras and according to Sheriff Tom Riggenbach, the addition has been well received by his department. \u201cThey like having everything that transpires on video because they allow the deputies to go back to their body […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-191778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-15 11:19:58","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191778"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191778\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":192066,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191778\/revisions\/192066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}