Utah Transit Authority Police Department
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Utah Transit Authority Public Safety Department is the law enforcement arm of the
Utah Transit Authority The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) is a special service district responsible for providing public transportation throughout the Wasatch Front of Utah, in the United States, which includes the metropolitan areas of Ogden, Park City, Provo, Salt ...
(UTA)
transit district A transit district or transit authority is a government agency or a public-benefit corporation created for the purpose of providing public transportation within a specific region. A transit district may operate bus, rail or other types of tra ...
in northern
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 ...
, United States, with headquarters in
Murray Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American manufacturer of low-cost bicycles * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trust * D. & W. Murray Limited, an Australian who ...
. UTA is a public transit district government agency made up of the participating municipalities, counties, and the State of Utah. The UTA Police Department is responsible for law enforcement services, crime investigations, crime prevention, and public safety throughout the light rail,
commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...
and bus transit systems, within the UTA transit district.


UTA governance

In 1969, the
Utah State Legislature The Utah State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. It is a bicameral body, comprising the Utah House of Representatives, with 75 state representatives, and the Utah Senate, with 29 state senators. There are no term li ...
passed the Utah Public Transit District Act, which allows individual communities to address transportation needs by forming local transit districts. UTA was founded in March 1970 when the cities of Murray,
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 ...
, and Sandy voted to form a transit district. Today, UTA’s service area is over and covers seven counties:
Box Elder ''Acer negundo'', the box elder, boxelder maple, Manitoba maple or ash-leaved maple, is a species of maple native to North America. It is a fast-growing, short-lived tree with opposite, compound leaves. It is sometimes considered a weedy or inva ...
,
Davis Davis may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Davis (Antarctica) * Davis Island (Palmer Archipelago) * Davis Valley, Queen Elizabeth Land Canada * Davis, Saskatchewan, an unincorporated community * Davis Strait, between Nunavut and Gre ...
,
Salt Lake A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per litre). ...
,
Summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topography, topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used ...
,
Tooele Tooele ( ) is a city in Tooele County in the U.S. state of Utah. The population was 35,742 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Tooele County. Located approximately 30 minutes southwest of Salt Lake City, Tooele is known for Tooele Army ...
,
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 ...
, and Weber. Until 2018 UTA was governed by a 15-member part-time
Board of Trustees A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...
. These Trustees Trustees were appointed by the city and county governments that fund UTA with a local option
sales tax A sales tax is a tax paid to a governing body for the sales of certain goods and services. Usually laws allow the seller to collect funds for the tax from the consumer at the point of purchase. When a tax on goods or services is paid to a govern ...
. Local-elected officials may have also served on the UTA Board, and one seat was reserved for a member of the State Transportation Commission, which is part of the
Utah Department of Transportation The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) is an agency of the state government of Utah, United States; it is usually referred to by its initials UDOT (pronounced "you-dot"). UDOT is charged with maintaining the more than of roadway that co ...
. The President of the Senate, Speaker of the House and Governor of the State of Utah each appointed one seat as well. In 2018 due to alleged corruption issues the Utah State Legislature passed a bill organizing UTA with a full-time 3-member board appointed by the Utah State Governor. The Board continually directs agency staff to improve public transit along the
Wasatch Front The Wasatch Front is a metropolitan region in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Utah. It consists of a chain of contiguous cities and towns stretched along the Wasatch Range from approximately Provo in the south to Logan in the north ...
. Board members work with their appointing local representatives to direct UTA so the agency can best meet the needs of individual communities.


History

UTA originally contracted with a private company for security services. In 2003, after several attempts, UTA took control of security services and created the UTA Public Safety Department. The UTA security officers were given the title of Transit Public Safety Officers and they were primarily tasked with conducting fare enforcement and observing and reporting crime to local, county, and state law enforcement agencies. Local municipalities, counties, and state police agencies within the transit district were originally responsible for responding to calls for police services throughout the transit system. In 2006, the Utah State Legislature passed a bill, which granted multi-county transit districts the authority to hire and employ police officers to provide law enforcement services. As of June 2021 UTA is the only multi-county transit district in Utah. In 2006, UTA created the UTA Police Department and the Transit Police Officers were granted state certification as
law enforcement officer A law enforcement officer (LEO), or peace officer in North American English, is a Public sector, public-sector employee whose duties primarily involve the Law enforcement, enforcement of laws. The phrase can include campaign disclosure specialist ...
s.


Training

UTA Transit Police Officers are certified as law enforcement officers by the
Utah Department of Public Safety Utah Department of Public Safety (DPS) is a law enforcement agency in the State of Utah, headquartered in Taylorsville. Utah Department of Public Safety is under the direction of Commissioner Jess L. Anderson. The agency is headquartered at Sou ...
Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST), and they are required to attend state certified police academies. In addition to completing state police academies, the UTA Transit Police Officers (like all other law enforcement officers in the State of Utah) must receive a minimum of 40 hours of continuous in service training annually, which usually includes legal and policy training, medical and first responder training, firearms and weapons training, defensive tactics, and
use of force The use of force, in the context of law enforcement, may be defined as the "amount of effort required by police to compel compliance by an unwilling subject". Use of force doctrines can be employed by law enforcement officers and military perso ...
training.


Jurisdiction

The UTA Police Department's jurisdiction is UTA transit district property and resources, which includes UTA buildings, maintenance and service centers, train stations, bus stops,
Park and Ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuting, commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, Rail t ...
lots, and any UTA equipment or vehicle. The UTA transit police jurisdiction is also extended onto the right of way of train tracks and twenty feet in and around any UTA property or vehicle. The UTA transit district has a large jurisdiction, from
Utah County Utah County is the second-most populous county in the U.S. state of Utah. The county seat and largest city is Provo, which is the state's third-largest city, and the largest outside of Salt Lake County. As of the 2020 United States Census, the ...
on the south to
Box Elder County Box Elder County is a county at the northwestern corner of Utah, United States. As of 2018, the estimated population is 54,950. Its county seat and largest city is Brigham City. The county was named for the box elder trees that abound in the co ...
on the north and from
Tooele County Tooele County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 58,218. Its county seat and largest city is Tooele. The county was created in 1850 and organized the following year. Tooele County ...
on the west to Summit County on the east, with
Salt Lake A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per litre). ...
,
Davis Davis may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Davis (Antarctica) * Davis Island (Palmer Archipelago) * Davis Valley, Queen Elizabeth Land Canada * Davis, Saskatchewan, an unincorporated community * Davis Strait, between Nunavut and Gre ...
, and Weber counties in the middle. Although neither Summit County, nor any municipality therein, is a participant in the UTA transit district, UTA transit vehicles do provide service to
Park City Park City may refer to: a city in Utah. Places * National Park City, London, England, UK; see parks and open spaces in London in the United States * Park City, Illinois * Park City, Kansas * Park City, Kentucky * Park City, Montana * Park City, ...
through a special arrangement with Park City and Summit County.


Laws and procedures

The UTA transit district is governed by the UTA Board of Trustees, who are appointed to the board by the cities, counties, and the state. The Board of Trustees enact ordinances, just as municipal and county councils enact municipal or county codes. UTA ordinances are primarily enforced by Transit Police Officers, although they can also be enforced by other law enforcement agencies. Violators of UTA ordinances, can be issued civil or criminal citations depending on the violation. UTA civil citations, such as
fare evasion Fare evasion or fare dodging, fare violation, rarely called ticket evasion, is the act of travelling on public transport without paying by deliberately not buying a required ticket to travel (having had the chance to do so). It is a problem in man ...
, are not criminal and are reviewed and administered by a UTA civil administrator. Criminal charges filed by the UTA Police Department are reviewed and administered by the justice court, district court, or federal court in which the offense occurred. Transit Police Officers have the legal authority as law enforcement officers of the State of Utah, to enforce municipal, county, state, and federal laws outside of their jurisdiction.


Department command

The Utah Transit Authority Police Department is managed by the Public Safety Manager who is appointed to the position by the UTA General Manager and the Board of Trustees. The command structure is made up of the Public Safety Manager, captains, lieutenants, sergeants and officers. The UTA Police Department has sworn law enforcement officers and non-sworn support personnel, which includes dispatchers, office personnel, and security officers. In 2011 UTA considered the possibility of combining its Public Safety Department with the
Unified Police Department of Greater Salt Lake The Unified Police Department of Greater Salt Lake (UPD) is a police department located in Salt Lake County, Utah, United States. Description The UPD serves unincorporated Salt Lake County and the communities of Copperton, Holladay, Kearns, ...
(which is headed by the Salt Lake County Sheriff).


Police services

The UTA Transit Police Officers are assigned patrol vehicles, and the department mandates a beat system for them. UTA Transit Police Officers routinely patrol trains, buses, all UTA stations, and UTA rail right-of-ways, as well as conduct fare enforcement. Transit police officers also respond to calls for police services throughout the transit system.


Contact information

The UTA Police Department's main headquarters is near the Murray Central Station, which is located at 127 West Vine Street in Murray City. There are several UTA police sub-stations throughout the transit system. The UTA Police Dispatch Center can be contacted by dialing 801-287-EYES (3937) or 911. The UTA Police Department administration, investigations and civil administrator's offices can be contacted at 801-287-2601.


See also

*
list of law enforcement agencies in Utah This is a list of law enforcement agencies in the state of Utah. According to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics' 2008 ''Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies,'' the state had 136 law enforcement agencies employing 4,782 sworn poli ...


References


External links

{{UTA Utah Transit Authority Transit police departments of the United States Specialist police departments of Utah