Holladay to join S.L. County police department

HOLLADAY — This bedroom community in the eastern foothills will join Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder's Unified Police Department.

The City Council voted 5-1 to join the UPD rather than taking up with neighboring Cottonwood Heights, which started its own police department last fall after a kerfuffle with the Sheriff's Department over local control.

Herriman also voted Thursday to join the district, which already included Riverton. Bluffdale is the lone eligible municipality holding out on the UPD but has been granted a deferral on signing the interlocal agreement, Winder said.

"To continue to break up services is not the right way to go," Winder said. "I think tonight's vote is a wise vote for the citizens of the county as a whole."

Cottonwood Heights Mayor Kelvyn Cullimore attended the Holladay City Council meeting. Afterward, he was disappointed Holladay rejected his city's proposal, but he will keep the door open in case UPD doesn't work out.

"We felt like we had a good proposal," Cullimore said. "They could have been owners instead of renters."

— Rebecca Palmer