Sheriff's office localizes its forces

RIVERTON — The sheriff's office just became a little more local.

Early last month, the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office divided its two large patrol districts into six smaller, localized precincts, with the goal of offering closer contact between sheriff's officials and the cities with which they contract.

"Because of our relationship with our contract cities . . . there has been an interest to have more localized control," Capt. Armand Glick of the new Southwest Precinct said.

While most of the new precincts are dedicated to one specific city or township, the Southwest Precinct covers a much larger area that includes Bluffdale, Riverton, Herriman and the unincorporated township of Copperton. West Jordan and South Jordan have their own city police forces.

In fact, it was the city-by-city creation of local police forces — most recently, Taylorsville broke away from the sheriff's office and launched its own police department in March — that sparked the idea of the reorganization.

Most cities in the Salt Lake Valley have their own police forces, many formed after cities complained that they weren't getting the kind of specialized, city-specific coverage they wanted from the sheriff's deputies. When Taylorsville created its police force, city officials talked about being charged too much for coverage that was inconsistent and fragmented.

In response, Sheriff Aaron Kennard has proposed the creation of a Unified Police Authority to take over many of the duties of the sheriff's office. During discussions with contract cities on the UFA idea, Glick said, the model most positively received was one that incorporates local precincts.

"That means there's a lot of local control," he said. "The city staff get to know those deputies. They're almost seen as city employees."

Before the creation of the precincts, the sheriff's office had a pool of deputies who may have patrolled Bingham Canyon one day, Kearns the next day and Millcreek the next.

"You had a little less consistency," Glick said.

Under the new plan, Glick foresees much more consistency.

Before, there were two divisions in the sheriff's office: the Wasatch District for all areas of sheriff's jurisdiction east of the Jordan River and the Oquirrh District for areas west of the river. Each of those districts is now divided into three precincts — Cottonwood Heights, Holladay and Millcreek in the east, and Kearns, Magna and Southwest in the west.