Longtime law enforcers vie for Salt Lake County's top cop

SALT LAKE CITY — One side calls it a race between a policeman and a politician. The other calls it a contest between a bridge builder and a divider.

But one point with which both Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder and Cottonwood Heights police officer Beau Babka concur is that this year's race for Salt Lake County sheriff comes at a crucial time — in the wake of creating a countywide Unified Police Force and its funding.

Winder, a Democratic incumbent, is seeking a second term after he unseated longtime Sheriff Aaron Kennard to become the county's top law enforcer in 2006. Among the accomplishments under his watch, Winder lists the formation of the Unified Police Department, the reopening of the Oxbow Jail and maintaining the level of protection the community expects even after being forced to cut $14 million from his budget.

"Citizens of this county are not looking for people who pass off answers and don't have answers. What they want is results. What I've given is results," he said.

Republican challenger Babka has been in law enforcement 18 years, working his way through the ranks to become the South Salt Lake Police Department's chief and later the Salt Lake County undersheriff for Winder. This is also his third run for public office, having lost in a 2002 campaign for sheriff and losing a bid for Congress two years later. He is currently an officer with the Cottonwood Heights Police Department.

"I've proven in the communities that I serve, I'm able to come up with problem solving strategies," he said recently during a debate on "The Doug Wright Show" on KSL Newsradio. "I'm a community cop. I'm somebody people can come to as a resource."

Despite his penchant for politics, Babka says he's a law enforcer first. But he says there are times a sheriff has to be politically aware when presenting budget proposals and policing strategies before mayors and county councils.

Winder, meanwhile, says his own accomplishments over the past four years speak for themselves.

"Those are real solutions, not rhetoric, not discussion, not academics. It's rubber meets the road, job work product."

Unified Police force