SALT LAKE CITY — With Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder's expected departure to Moab, some members of the Unified Police Department’s board of directors believe now is the time to explore the idea of further separating the roles of sheriff and police chief.
When the Unified Police Department was created in 2010, it was set up so the elected county sheriff would also be appointed as CEO and police chief.
But the board now wants to talk about whether the Unified chief should become an appointed position, similar to what happens in other city police departments, while the sheriff remains an elected position.
Under the department’s current structure, the police department is run by an eight-member board of directors consisting of elected officials from the communities served by Unified police. Those board members come from Herriman, Holladay, Riverton, Midvale and Taylorsville, as well as three Salt Lake County officials, including Mayor Ben McAdams. The sheriff/police chief handles the day-to-day operation of the department.
The idea of the sheriff and police chief being two separate positions, with the board selecting the chief, was talked about at the board's most recent meeting. The discussion generated enough interest that it was placed on the agenda for further discussion in August.
With several people already announcing their plans to seek Winder’s seat once he officially submits his resignation letter with the county — and many of those people saying they also have the intention of campaigning in 2018 for sheriff — some board members say now is the right time to consider a change.
“I think the consensus of the board is that we would rather have that discussion now rather than later so that those who are seeking this office at least know that is a possibility,” said Trent Staggs, a Riverton city councilman who sits on the board.
Both Staggs and McAdams confirmed to the Deseret News that the possibility of separating the two positions is being explored. However, each stressed that the discussions were still in the very early stages, neither has taken a position on the issue, and the board has not made any official proposals.
Both, however, noted that while the sheriff is elected by an estimated 1.1 million residents, the Unified Police Department directly serves only a small portion of that. Plus, many of the once-rural areas the police department services have grown up. The county has a lot fewer unincorporated areas than it used to, McAdams said.
But Winder does not buy into the argument that Unified police serves only a finite group.
“That is not accurate," he said. "The UPD still manages $17 million of budget that is countywide, including the canyons, drug task forces, gang task forces, civil processes."
Winder added that the idea of separating the positions of sheriff and chief is not new, and he believes it isn’t something that should be rushed through.
“That conversation needs to be fully vetted about what the options are. The options are not as simplistic as get rid of the sheriff or not. The conversation has to be what is the right model to administer a regional police service,” he said.
Another option, Winder said, is to have a group of elected police commissioners pick a chief. That way, local government is not involved.
“Law enforcement needs to be neutral. It needs to be managed in a way that it’s not exclusively with an individual,” he said.
Winder said most elected officials come from a business background and “are not law enforcement experts.”
“Now suddenly you know everything there is to know about criminal justice?” he questioned.
Because of the charged political atmosphere that has already been created by Winder’s announcement that he intends to become the next Moab police chief, something Winder said he didn’t want to happen, the sheriff admitted he has purposely dragged his feet about submitting his resignation letter.
The Moab City Council confirmed Winder as the city's new chief nearly four weeks ago.
“Should a person who is looking to be the sheriff also have to deal with the conversations of UPD separation right now? We don’t have enough going on?” Winder asked.
If the Unified board of directors decides it wants to change how the police chief is selected, it would first require a change in statue by the state Legislature.
Once Winder steps down, Undersheriff Scott Carver is expected to be named as interim sheriff while the Salt Lake County Democratic Party finds a candidate to fill the remainder of Winder’s term.