TAYLORSVILLE — The city of Taylorsville has announced plans to once again form its own police department.
The city sent out a notice on Monday announcing its plan to leave the Unified Police Department by July 1, 2021.
“It is not a decision we made lightly,” Taylorsville Mayor Kristie Overson said in a prepared statement. “We have long been a champion of UPD and have greatly appreciated their service, particularly the enduring work of our precinct officers to keep our community safe. At the same time, we recognize that we are at a crossroads. We want to take what’s great about UPD and build upon it.”
Overson sits on the board of directors for the Unified Police Department and is chairwoman of the finance committee.
Taylorsville spokeswoman Kim Horiuchi said the city has seen increases year after year in the fees it pays Unified police for services. The City Council has wanted to give officers in the Taylorsville precinct raises, but it’s been difficult to come up with funding because of the increasing Unified fees, she said.
While the move is expected to save Taylorsville money, Overson said the decision to leave Unified police was not solely based on cost. Best policing practices were also taken into consideration.
“We are always looking for ways to improve and strengthen the community. We see the importance of policy in relationship to policing. Particularly now, with the current political climate, we do not think it is wise to outsource our police department.”
Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera said she was not surprised by the announcement, as there have been rumblings for a while. For Taylorsville, she said it was a matter of having more local control.
Taylorsville City Council Chairwoman Meredith Harker said the five-member council was in favor of the switch.
“Public safety is a responsibility we take very seriously,” she said in a prepared statement. “When you think about the role of community governance, maintaining and supporting a strong police force is vital.”
The City Council is expected to ratify the move for the city to form its own police department at its next meeting on July 1. City officials said they will also consider continuing to work with Unified or another police agency for some services.
Taylorsville, which once fell under the umbrella of the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office, formed its own police department in 2004. That department consisted of many former members of the sheriff’s office, including Rivera, who is also chief of the Unified Police Department.
In 2012, Taylorsville joined the Unified Police Department, which was created two years earlier.
In recent years, Riverton and Herriman have both broken away from Unified police to form their own police departments. Both cities cited frustrations with rising costs and transparency concerns with past budgets.
Rivera said transparency issues are no longer a problem, as the Unified board has made great strides over the past three years to be more open. She also noted that no one has complained about the services Unified police has provided.
But it has become a challenge for everyone on the Unified board to agree on issues, she said, as each board member typically also has a city council to answer to.
“Not everybody understands the model for UPD and how shared services work,” Rivera said.
Taylorsville had wanted a higher pay increase for its officers than the Unified board offered. Rivera also noted that Taylorsville is one of the cities that utilizes more of Unified’s shared services than other cities, including the SWAT team and Major Crimes Unit.
While Taylorsville has said it wants to focus on improving models, Rivera said the Unified Police Department will use this opportunity to do the same.
“Sometimes bigger isn’t better. Sometimes smaller is easier to manage,” she said. “It may be time to recreate the model.”
Rivera said she would like part of that reform to include longer term contacts among cities that are part of the Unified model so there isn't a lot of “in and out” with cities coming and going.
Unified will still provide law enforcement for Holladay, Midvale and Millcreek, as well as unincorporated areas of Salt Lake County, including Copperton, White City, Emigration, Kearns and Magna.