Salt Lake City Police Department
Flag of Salt Lake City, Utah
Flag of Salt Lake City, Utah
Common nameSalt Lake City Police
AbbreviationSLCPD, SLPD
MottoServing with Integrity
Agency overview
Formed1851
Employees620
Annual budget$70,901,619
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdictionSalt Lake City, Utah, USA
Map of Salt Lake City Police Department's jurisdiction
Size110.4 square miles (286 km2)
Population200,591
Legal jurisdictionSalt Lake City, Utah
General nature
Operational structure
Headquarters475 South 300 East,
Salt Lake City, Utah
Police Officers567
Civilians122
Mayor of Salt Lake City responsible
Agency executives
  • Mike Brown, Chief of Police
  • Lance vanDongen, Deputy Chief - Administration Bureau
  • Brian Purvis, Deputy Chief - Investigations Bureau
  • LaMar Ewell, Deputy Chief - Patrol Bureau
Parent agencySalt Lake City
Website
SLCPD site

The Salt Lake City Police Department (SLCPD) is the police department of Salt Lake City, Utah.

History

The SLCPD was founded in 1851, under a then newly created City Charter, when the Mayor authorized a police department to be created and forty men were appointed, earning 25 cents-an-hour.[1]

The SLCPD is headquartered in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah,-at 475 South and 300 East, one block east of the Salt Lake City Public Library. This headquarters is called the Salt Lake City Public Safety Building and is shared with the Salt Lake City Fire Department.[2]

The Chief of Police, Mike Brown, was appointed by Mayor Jackie Biskupski on May 3, 2016,[3] and previously was the Interim Police Chief from June 11, 2015.

The Salt Lake City Police Department is divided into two bureaus, which are directed from the Office of the Chief. They are the Administrative Bureau and the Operations Bureau and each is commanded by a Deputy Chief of Police. The bureaus, in turn, are divided into eight different divisions. Four of those are geographical, where the city is split into Central Patrol, Pioneer Patrol (west) and Liberty Patrol (east), and the Salt Lake City International Airport, whose police merged with the SLCPD on December 31, 2018. Additionally, staff are also allocated to the Special Operations, Investigations, Support and Professional Standards divisions.[4]

Salt Lake City Police responding to an incident in the Ballpark Neighborhood.

The Salt Lake Police Association represents over 350 rank and file officers. The association began life as The Salt Lake City Police Mutual Aid Association, established in 1911. After a few iterations, in 1984, the Salt Lake Police Association was formed as an independent union, and won recognition by the City as the exclusive bargaining agent for the officers. Since 2014, the Association stands with the Utah State AFL-CIO in legislative issues to preserve retirement, collective bargaining and other labor issues although presently not an affiliate.[5] The current president is Joe McBride.

High-profile cases

The SLCPD has handled several cases in recent years, most notably the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping in 2002, the murder of Lori Hacking in 2004, the kidnapping and murder of Destiny Norton in 2006, and the shooting spree at Trolley Square in 2007 that resulted in 5 deaths and 4 serious woundings. The department also took part in the Salt Lake City Public Library hostage incident in 1994.

On August 13, 2017, officer Clinton Fox fatally shot Patrick Harmon, an African American man they attempted to arrest for riding a bicycle without proper lighting. Later that same month, footage released on August 31, 2017 show an emergency room incident between the police detective Jeff Payne and the nurse Alex Wubbels at the University of Utah Hospital. Payne asked Wubbels to provide a blood sample from an unconscious patient, and she was arrested when she refused. Payne is no longer working for the department.[6] Wubbels was later released and no charges were brought against her.[7] In September 2017, the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office and Unified Police launched an independent criminal investigation into the arrest.[8]

In 2019, the Salt Lake Police Department garnered international attention surrounding the murder of Mackenzie Lueck, a University of Utah student.

In 2020, the Salt Lake Police Department garnered controversy when an officer shot Linden Cameron, an unarmed 13-year old boy with Asperger's syndrome.

Ranks and Insignia

Title Insignia
Chief of Police
Deputy Chief
Captain
Lieutenant
Sergeant
Detective None
Police Officer None

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Our History". www.slcpd.com. Salt Lake City Police Department. Retrieved 7 Dec 2016.
  2. ↑ "New Public Safety Building in Salt Lake City a Model of Resilience". www.resilientdesign.org. Resilient Design Institute. Retrieved 8 Dec 2016.
  3. ↑ "Bureaus and Staff". www.slcpd.com. Salt Lake City Police Department. Retrieved 7 Dec 2016.
  4. ↑ "Bureaus and Staff". www.slcpd.com. Salt Lake City Police Department. Retrieved 10 Jan 2017.
  5. ↑ "History". www.slpa.com. Salt Lake City Police Association. Retrieved 20 Dec 2016.
  6. ↑ Manson, Pamela (August 31, 2017). "Video shows Utah nurse screaming, being handcuffed after refusing to take blood from unconscious victim". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
  7. ↑ Reavy, Pat (August 31, 2017). "'Stop! I've done nothing wrong': Nurse shares police video of 'crazy' arrest by S.L. officer". Deseret News. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
  8. ↑ Harris, Jeremy (September 2, 2017). "D.A. asks for criminal investigation into arrest of U of U nurse". KUTV. Retrieved September 6, 2017.

Further reading

  • The Salt Lake City History Project. The History of the Salt Lake City Police Department. (Salt Lake City: The Salt Lake City History Project, 2013)
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