Will the split of the UPD-SLCo Sheriff's Office affect protection?

SALT LAKE CITY — The Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office swore in 83 deputies Monday, reestablishing its law enforcement bureau after a split with the Unified Police Department became official.

“It’s bittersweet in a way,” Sheriff Rosie Rivera said. “I’ve loved working for UPD. I think UPD is a great department and will continue to be a great department, but at the same time, not having to oversee two separate police departments is going to be beneficial for me, my department and my family. It’s a lot of time to oversee two.”

When the unified police force was created in 2010, the sheriff's office lost its patrol, with the state legislature voting to separate the two agencies last year.

“The sheriff’s office has a unique way of delivering services,” Rivera said. “We work for the people. Your sheriff is elected by the people, and that’s extremely important when you think about public safety, the safety of our community.”

One of the biggest changes following the split is that the sheriff's office will no longer share its building at 3300 South, meaning the UPD no longer has a headquarters.

“We moved away from working out of the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office and moved more officers in-house to each precinct,” said Sergeant Aymee Race. “So now we have more detectives in those precincts, our tax and administrative departments are all in those precincts.”

The sheriff's office will now provide Metro Gang Unit, search and rescue and canyon patrol services, but Race said cities will still have access to the same services.

“For all of us here in the Valley, I don’t really think there’s going to be a big, meaningful change,” she said. “We all still want to serve. We all chose this job to help people, and that’s still our only motivation.”

The change means better service at the lowest possible cost, says Midvalle City Mayor Marcus Stevenson.

“We are really excited about this initiative,” he said. “Not only will it mean savings for our residents because we won’t have to pay for an additional building, but it will also mean we have an increased police presence in each of our communities.”

However, Sheriff Rivera believes the split will ultimately hurt taxpayers.

“This separation is very costly to our communities,” she said. “When you share resources, your costs are much lower, and now that we’re not sharing resources, our costs are going up. We know that. We didn’t choose this situation, but we’re making the best of it and trying to be very fiscally responsible.”