S.L. Council to honor Dinse

The Salt Lake City Council is expected to pass a resolution tonight honoring Police Chief Rick Dinse as he nears retirement.

Dinse, who began his police career in 1966 in Los Angeles, has been the head of the Salt Lake City Police Department since 2000. The city council resolution credits Dinse with a number of accomplishments over the past six years.

Under Dinse's tenure, the resolution says the chief has "created an atmosphere of trust and mutual cooperation" with the police officers' union.

"This amicable relationship has led to a dramatic improvement in the internal affairs process, reducing internal affairs complaints by over 55 percent since his arrival," the resolution states. It goes on to say that major crimes in Salt Lake City reached a 14-year low in 2005 with a continued decline anticipated in 2006.

"The realization of this goal is due in large part of Chief Dinse's diligence and leadership," the resolution states. "The identification of crime trends, locations and participants has been a priority of Chief Dinse's administration leading to the creation of several innovative tactical approaches, units and directions, including the formation of a cold case squad."

During the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, Dinse was vice commander of the Utah Olympic Public Safety Command (UOPSC).

"He was instrumental in the creation of a Public Order Unit designated specifically to deal with crowd and incident management, which to this day, is utilized by the Salt Lake City Police Department in many varied capacities," the resolution says, adding that Dinse consulted on security for the 2004 Olympic Summer Games in Athens, Greece.

Dinse may best be known for his handling of two of Utah's most high-profile crimes — the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart and the murder of Lori Hacking. Both cases brought international media scrutiny on Salt Lake City police, but the council said "under Dinse's leadership, the police department received many accolades for the manner in which they handled these high-profile occurrences."

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com