Midvale police chief retires after 43 years

He became a police officer before they were required to tell suspects, "You have the right to remain silent."

Now, after more than four decades of public service in law enforcement and firefighting, Midvale Police Chief Gerald Maughan is calling it a career. The reason for retiring now is fairly simple, he said.

"I'm not a kid anymore — time to let someone else do it," the 69-year-old Maughan said with a laugh.

Maughan, whose photo on the Midvale Police Department's Web site is still black and white, informed the city's mayor last summer that he would be retiring sometime at the beginning of 2007. And Friday was his last day on the job.

"I've loved my career," he said. "(But) I've decided it's time to do other things."

Maughan joined the Salt Lake City Police Department in 1964. Back then, Maughan said, Miranda Rights hadn't yet been established.

Maughan stayed with Salt Lake City until 1980, when he left to help form the West Valley City Police Department. He was assistant chief of that department for four years, until he became Midvale's police chief in 1984. It was the first of Maughan's two tenures as Midvale's top law enforcer.

In 1986, Maughan returned to West Valley, this time as the fire chief. He stayed until 1993 when he returned to Midvale, and he has served as chief since then.

Over those years, Maughan said the biggest change he has seen in police work is the evolution of technology. Officers now have computers in their patrol cars, providing information on whether a car is stolen or a person has a warrant out for their arrest.

"There's some fun stuff out there. I'd have given my right arm to have stuff like that," he said.

Although he's retiring, Maughan said he intends to keep busy, doing family-history research for his church.

"I've never been one to sit on my duff," he said. "But in the summertime, I want to play."

Maughan said with a smile that he sees many days of golfing and fishing in his future.

Assistant Chief Tony Mason was appointed to be interim chief this week by the Midvale City Council while the search is conducted for Maughan's full-time replacement.

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