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

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

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. 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 The Salt Lake City Public Library system's main branch building is an architecturally unique structure in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is located at 210 East, 400 South, across from the Salt Lake City and County Building and Washington Square. His ...

. This headquarters is called the Salt Lake City Public Safety Building and is shared with the Salt Lake City Fire Department. The Chief of Police, Mike Brown, was appointed by Mayor

Jackie Biskupski Jackie Biskupski (born January 11, 1966) is an American Democratic politician, who served as the 35th Mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah. Upon taking office, Biskupski became Salt Lake City's 35th mayor, the city's first openly gay mayor, and the se ...

on May 3, 2016, 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 Salt Lake City International Airport is a civil-military airport located about west of Downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, in the United States. The airport is the closest commercial airport for more than 2.5 million people and is within a 30-minu ...

, 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. 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. 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 Lori Kay Soares Hacking (December 31, 1976 – July 19, 2004) was a Salt Lake City, Utah woman who was murdered by her husband Mark Douglas Hacking in 2004. She was reported missing by her husband, and the search gained national attention before ...

in 2004, the kidnapping and murder of Destiny Norton in 2006, and the

shooting spree A spree killer is someone who commits a criminal act that involves two or more murders or homicides in a short time, in multiple locations. The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics defines a spree killing as "killings at two or more locations w ...

Trolley Square Trolley Square is a partially enclosed shopping center located in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It is considered to be a trendy high-end center. The center is near downtown Salt Lake City and the UTA TRAX light-rail system. History Desc ...

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 Alexandra Luise Wubbels (née Shaffer; born January 23, 1976) is an American nurse and former Olympian. As an alpine ski competitor, she was the national champion in both the Slalom and Giant Slalom in 1999, and competed in the 1998 and 2002 Win ...

at the

University of Utah Hospital The University of Utah Hospital is a research and teaching hospital on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. It serves as a major regional referral center for Utah and the surrounding states of Idaho, Nevada, Wyoming, Monta ...

. 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. Wubbels was later released and no charges were brought against her. In September 2017, the

Salt Lake County Salt Lake County is located in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 1,185,238, making it the most populous county in Utah. Its county seat and largest city is Salt Lake City, the state capital. The coun ...

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's Office and Unified Police launched an independent criminal investigation into the arrest. In 2019, the Salt Lake Police Department garnered international attention surrounding the

murder of Mackenzie Lueck The murder of Mackenzie Lueck occurred on June 17, 2019. Lueck, a 23-year-old student at the University of Utah, was reported missing and her bound, burned, and buried remains were later discovered. Ayoola Ajayi, 31, was arrested and charged wit ...

, a

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

student. In 2020, the Salt Lake Police Department garnered controversy when an officer shot

Linden Cameron Linden Arthur Cameron MC & Bar (17 March 1918 – 19 March 1986) was an Australian army officer and farmer. Cameron was born at Warracknabeal to farmer Finlay Cameron (later a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly) and Victoria M ...

, an unarmed 13-year old boy with

Asperger's syndrome Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger's, is a former neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behav ...

Ranks and Insignia

References

External links

Official Website
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Police Department The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and ...

Municipal police departments of Utah Organizations established in 1849 1849 establishments in the State of Deseret

History

High-profile cases

Ranks and Insignia

See also

References

Further reading

External links