County Mayor Peter Corroon added that several cities have been caught without the needed services such as a bomb squad. The UPD, he said, would remedy that situation by ensuring all cities in the district have 100 percent of police services available to them.

At least for now, Bradley said the UPD is focused mainly on uniting the five contracting cities with the county. But the idea is to eventually absorb some cities that already have their own police departments.

The county sent invitations to all of its cities to join the UPD, but so far has only received interest from Taylorsville, Corroon said.

Draper Police Chief Mac Connole isn't sure his city will sign up for the UPD plan anytime soon. Connole said he has not heard any buzz among Draper officials to consider joining the UPD, particularly because bulk law enforcement may strip cities of their power to tailor services.

That lack of authority to create a city-specific department was one of the major motivations for creating the Draper force, he said.

"I don't feel like they had the control they wanted when they were under the county sheriff before," Connole said. "Under local authority you have more control on how much resources you want to devote to it."

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E-mail: estewart@desnews.com