'My Intention Was To Keep This Local': Adams County Sheriff Rick Reigenborn Explains New Contract With 'COPS'
ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4)- A Colorado sheriff is signing a contract with the TV show COPS. The decision comes after his livestream of a stolen car chase, which gained both criticism and praise from the community, as well as national attention.
"Which wasn't my intention," said Adams County Sheriff Rick Reigenborn. "My intention was to keep this local."
Reigenborn, who is up for re-election this year, started hosting late-night live streams on Facebook every Saturday in early January. He told CBS4 the virtual ride-alongs are an effort to engage with the community and give residents an idea of what deputies do. Last month, during one of his livestreams, the sheriff took part in the pursuit of a stolen vehicle and ended up taking down the suspect himself.
The livestreams took a lot of time and work, the sheriff admitted, and he didn't have the best equipment (shaky cameras, no microphones, etc.). So, when the production company behind COPS reached out, Reigenborn said he saw it as an opportunity to better show a day in the life of a deputy.
"For me, it was kind of a win-win," he told CBS4's Kelly Werthmann. "COPS have a professional production crew. Let's let them do what they do best and let us do what we do best."
This will not be the first time the reality show has tagged along with Adams County deputies. They were featured on COPS in 2018.
"Some might say this is a publicity stunt," Werthmann said.
"Right, and it's not a publicity stunt," Reigenborn replied. "It's just a way for us to get information back out into the community."
Yet not everyone in the community, both locally and nationally, is on board. COPS has been highly criticized for its glorified view of law enforcement and omission of police violence. When it comes to the future Adams County episodes, Reigenborn said he will have a say in what makes air, including arrests, police mistakes, even good deeds.
"It's two-fold," he said. "It's being transparent with the community to say, 'Here's a mistake that was made, 'or 'here's everything that went right.' I don't want to be rolling up on a car accident and showing people who are critically injured. That's not being mindful or thoughtful of our victims."
Reigenborn said he also hopes the revitalization of COPS can show how policing has changed.
"I think this really gives us an opportunity to maybe change those views on cops, and hopefully bring some of our community into COPS," he added. "Let's make it about what policing is in 2022."
Reigenborn said the department is not receiving compensation for being on the reality show. COPS is expected to begin filming this summer, he explained, with episodes airing sometime in 2023.
