Salt Lake County moves forward with UPD

The Salt Lake County Council voted unanimously Tuesday to disband the sheriff's office in favor of a Unified Police Department governed by a board of local mayors and county representatives.

The action culminates years of effort to create a single public-safety department for the Salt Lake Valley. It was closely modeled after the Unified Fire Authority,

Under the new law enforcement district, the board of mayors will have budgetary and policy control, but Sheriff Jim Winder will function as the executive branch and will hold veto power.

Authority to create the new political subdivision was granted by the state Legislature in 2009.

"We are up and running with a new police agency that (residents) should be really proud of," Winder said after the historic vote Tuesday. "This is exactly the kind of model I think is best."

For now, the UPD will serve unincorporated areas of Salt Lake County, plus Holladay, Riverton and Herriman. It won't serve cities that have their own police departments, such as Draper, Sandy and West Valley City.

Those cities have their own take on local control. Earlier this year, 11 of them signed interlocal agreements to create the Valley Police Alliance, which leaves autonomy intact but pools buying power for things like uniforms and ammunition.

Salt Lake County Councilman Michael Jensen said collaboration is good for communities, so both groups are welcome in the valley. Jensen, who also serves as deputy chief of the Unified Fire Authority, stressed that the new UPD will not put pressure on existing police agencies. However, he heartily welcomed them to the fold.

The County Council vote follows votes by city councils in Herriman, Holladay and Riverton to join the UPD.

But Bluffdale, the lone holdout, has yet to decide who will provide its police service. The Bluffdale City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to table a vote on joining UPD until the beginning of November.

Winder gave the city of nearly 8,000 people the option of temporarily joining UPD until March 30, 2010, giving Bluffdale a seat on the board and voting power without officially signing on to the agreement.

Of concern for city leaders is a contract requirement that every city must fund one officer per 1,000 residents. That could force Bluffdale to up its police staff from 4.5 officers to eight, a move that would crush the city budget.