Five days after learning his appointment to a new job with a state agency was on hold, Sheriff Jared Rigby released videos sharing his side of the story.
Rigby was supposed to have begun his new role as head of P.O.S.T., which stands for Peace Officer Standards and Training. That’s the agency that oversees law enforcement training and internal investigations.
But a media report questioning his tactics in 2021 prompted what a P.O.S.T. spokesperson called additional background checking.
Friday afternoon, Rigby called that report, another report this week, and the video both included inaccurate.
The video shows Rigby telling a Heber City Police officer, who had allegedly questioned the results of a review of Heber Police Chief Dave Booth, that his future with the police department was in question.
Rigby said Friday the video was cut and spliced with crucial components removed. He said the complete video shows he was counseling, not threatening, the officer.
“The timing of the conversation with this officer is critical to understand because it shows the police chief was already exonerated, and I was not trying to influence the outcome of the investigation of the chief.”
Rigby said the officer he spoke to on video had told a trainee that Booth used excessive force. Rigby said the officer was considered a whistleblower according to the city rules, and Rigby was explaining some of his rights under that status.
“City administration did not want to discipline the field training officer but asked that I instruct him that the chief had been exonerated and that he shouldn’t be teaching officers differently. I explained to the officer many times in the recording that he was not in trouble and that he was not being disciplined in any way. Fox 13 never reported that.”
That video was originally part of a Fox 13 news story about the investigation of Booth in December 2021.
The Fox 13 reporter who produced the report said he couldn’t comment on Rigby’s statement in time for this report but said he would publish a follow-up report to respond to Rigby’s comments.
Rigby’s message is available at this link.
