Leaders

740-845-2222 | Jill.Small@OhioAGO.gov

A veteran at BCI, Small joined the bureau in 1997 as an Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) operator. Since then, she has worked in various sections, affording her broad knowledge of BCI, which aids her work as director of the Ohio Law Enforcement Gateway, the network that helps Ohio law enforcement agencies share criminal justice data. In this role, she oversees the OHLEG support, communication room and quality assurance divisions. Those sections provide critical assistance, training and auditing of OHLEG for all criminal justice agencies throughout Ohio and in surrounding states.

Director of Identification since 2019, Owens leads a team that manages Ohio’s criminal master files — more than 6 million records that include details on criminal charges and suspects’ demographics — and conducts more than 1.5 million civilian background checks a year. Under her watch, BCI is moving to fully digitize all of these records.

Before joining BCI, Owens served 11 years as identification manager for the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office. She previously served 17 years with the Columbus Division of Police as a fingerprint examiner, supervisor and project manager for the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS).

Owens also serves on the FBI’s Advisory Policy Board’s Identification Services Subcommittee and chairs the biometrics “Subject Matter Experts” for the FBI’s Identification Services Coordination Group.

Special Agent-in-Charge

740-837-0102 | Gary.Wilgus@OhioAGO.gov

Wilgus oversees BCI’s Technical Services Division and leads its major-case responses. The veteran crime-scene investigator has worked more than 600 homicide and questionable-deaths cases including, during his time at BCI, the investigation of four serial killers, five mass killers and a school shooter.

The graduate of Ohio Dominican University and the Police Executive Leadership College (PELC) joined BCI in 1996 after serving as a patrol deputy and detective with the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office.

He was appointed to the National Commission on Forensic Science Bloodstain Pattern Analysis Subcommittee in 2016 and has testified as an expert witness in crime scene reconstruction, shooting incident reconstruction and bloodstain pattern analysis. His work has been highlighted by Discovery Channel’s “Extreme Forensics” and “New Detectives” and published multiple times in the Journal of Forensic Identification.

Wilgus also commands the bureau’s Forensic Dive Team. He is a certified PADI and IANTD Public Safety Diver Instructor and a Technical Diving Instructor for IANTD, and he is working toward his PADI Technical Diving Instructor certification.

Special Agent-in-Charge

740-845-2660 | Joseph.Wiesman@OhioAGO.gov

Special Agent-In-Charge Wiesman joined BCI in 2021 and oversees the Investigative Services Division.

Wiesman started his law enforcement career in 1986 as a Military Police Officer in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. He joined the Dayton Police Department in 1989 and, over the next 32 years, had the opportunity to work a variety of assignments while rising through the ranks. He retired as a Major.

Wiesman has served as an instructor for the National Tactical Officers Association, the Ohio Tactical Officers Association and the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy.

The Special Agent-in-Charge is a graduate of the Police Executive Leadership College (PELC), the Certified Law Enforcement Executive course, the FBI National Academy and the Southern Police Institute (SPI) Administrative Officers Course. He also has a bachelor’s degree in Law Enforcement from Siena Heights University in Michigan and a master’s in Criminal Justice Administration from Tiffin University.

Wiesman is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police, Montgomery County Association of Police Chiefs, Police Executive Research Forum, FBI National Academy Association, Southern Police Institute Alumni Association, National Tactical Officers Association and Ohio Tactical Officers Association.