Utah's top cop is leaving to head up a regional office for the troubled Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Department of Public Safety Commissioner Bob Flowers announced Monday that he will be leaving his post to head up FEMA's regional office in Denver, which oversees Utah, Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota and South Dakota. His resignation was effective immediately.

Regarding FEMA's bad reputation for its handling of the response to Hurricane Katrina, Flowers said: "I'm going to go fix it."

"I would like to restore the faith people have in FEMA — make it a functioning organization that really does meet the needs of people," he added.

At a news conference Monday afternoon, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. announced that Utah Highway Patrol Col. Scott Duncan will succeed Flowers as the new public-safety commissioner.

"We can make our state the safest in the country," Duncan said. "That's what we're after."

Flowers was the police chief of St. George when he was tapped to head DPS by then-Gov. Mike Leavitt in 2000. Shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Flowers was assigned to head up public safety for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.

"The Olympics to me was, of course, a crowning event," Flowers said. "I learned a lot about our country, I learned a lot about our citizens. I learned a lot about myself."

Huntsman also praised Flowers for his handling of the 2005 flooding in southern Utah. The governor had been in office for only a few days when homes were destroyed in massive flooding in Utah's Dixie.

Flowers recalled that when he showed Huntsman the devastation, the two men stood on a riverbank that later collapsed and destroyed a home in Santa Clara.

"I told the governor, 'See, governor, what a great commissioner I am? I got you out of danger.' Without even blinking an eye, he says, 'You know, Bob, a good commissioner wouldn't have let me out there in the first place,' " Flowers said.

Flowers will move to Denver to head up the FEMA office. He starts the new job August 7.

"My very first question to FEMA was, 'Can I live in St. George?' They just giggled and said, 'Probably not,' " Flowers said. As public-safety commissioner, Flowers was criticized for racking up a huge gasoline bill from commuting more than 300 miles from his home in southern Utah to Salt Lake City. He would go home to the St. George area on weekends.

Duncan has spent nearly 30 years with the UHP. He will now oversee all aspects of public safety, from homeland security to the state crime lab.

"He is very well respected within the ranks of the highway patrol," said UHP Trooper Jeff Nigbur. "Everybody's going to be very pleased and excited to work with Col. Duncan."

Duncan describes himself as a "humble public servant" who will try to bring communities into policing in the state. He also plans to push the Legislature for more money for UHP troopers, who are some of the lowest-paid officers in the state.

"Their pay is still not within the market," Duncan said. "We have to keep working on those things."

Some UHP troopers are optimistic about getting a raise.

"Pay's always a big one," Nigbur said. "Everybody's always pushing for more pay."

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com