Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office and Unified Police to part ways Monday

MILLCREEK — Officers are once again wearing green instead of blue.

The Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office and the Unified Police Department believe that will likely be the biggest difference visible to the public starting Monday, when the two law enforcement agencies officially part ways.

On Monday at 10 a.m., about 60 officers from the Unified Police Department will be sworn in as Salt Lake County sheriff's deputies. About a dozen more were sworn in Friday. Most, if not all, of the 70 officers, however, will retain the same duties they had with the Unified Police Department. So, essentially, the same faces will be doing the same jobs as before, according to the department, just in different uniforms.

This change is the result of bill HB374 which passed in 2023 and forced the sheriff's office to separate from the Unified Police Force.

The Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office was established in 1849 and continued to provide services to Salt Lake County for 175 years.

In 2010, the Unified Police Department was established to provide law enforcement services to unincorporated areas of the county. But rather than being run by Salt Lake County, the Unified Police Force was overseen by a CEO and board of directors and had taxation power. Under the statutes created for the UPD, the Salt Lake County Sheriff was CEO of the UPD.

But Rep. Jordan Teuscher, Republican of South Jordan, who co-sponsored HB374, said residents of cities like his are double-taxed: once for their municipal police force and once for the unified police force. , which is funded by county taxes. He also argued that the model created a conflict of interest since the county's elected sheriff is also the CEO of the unified force. A separate police chief oversees the day-to-day operations of the unified police department.

Last year, Sheriff Rosie Rivera said she would reluctantly support the bill. But Unified Police will not be disbanded, because the communities that currently provide Unified Police Services have chosen to continue their interlocal agreement for law enforcement services under the direction of a board of directors.

What this means for residents

Rivera will remain sheriff, while Jason Mazuran will continue to serve as police chief of the Unified Police Department.

Specialized units, such as the Metro Gang Unit, DEA Taskforce and Search and Rescue, will again be overseen by the sheriff's office, as they were in 2010.

The unified police force will provide patrol services to the communities of Kearns, Magna, Midvale, Millcreek, Holladay, Copperton, Emigration Canyon, White City and the town of Brighton. The sheriff's office will patrol unincorporated parts of Salt Lake County, which have a population of about 10,000, as well as the Cottonwood Canyons.

Members of the Sheriff's Office will return to their green uniforms, while Unified Police will continue to wear blue. Vehicles patrolling the canyons will also display the “Salt Lake County Sheriff” logo. But most specialized units, like the Metro Gangs, have unmarked vehicles and their officers wear street clothes, so there will be no visible change. The SWAT team will be under the direction of the Unified Police Department.

The sheriff's office will continue to be headquartered near 3300 South and 900 West, while the unified police department will operate out of the Millcreek neighborhood, near 3300 South and 1300 East.

The telephone number for non-emergency situations will still be 801-840-4000 for all residents.