Attention Salt Lake County Residents:
Amendment C is on the ballot for November 5th, 2024.
Electing our Sheriff’s is crucial in preserving the peace and holding criminals accountable because the Sheriff is the Chief law enforcement in the county. A sheriff elected should be researched and vetted considerably when deciding who the next Salt Lake County Sheriff should be for the next 2027 election.
I am voting “For” Amendment C
Here is what I know about your current Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera
July 1, 2024, was the worst day in Sheriff’s Office history, at least in my lifetime as a retired Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Deputy and Unified Police Officer. It was the day that house bill 374 took effect, which removed the Salt Lake County Sheriff (Rosie Rivera) as the leader and (CEO) of the Unified Police Department’s uniformed patrol division, which served Kearns, Magna, Millcreek, White City, Midvale, Holladay, Brighton, Copperton and Emigration Canyoh and had 247 sworn law enforcement officers that were former Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Deputies prior to the split in 2010.
Before the bill went into effect, Sheriff Rosie Rivera herself told reporters she did not oppose the legislation and told another source said she even supported the bill even though she knew the move would cost the taxpayers more money. Sheriff Rivera told reporter Jenna Bree at Fox 13 News the split is “Going to be great for our community” and went on to say, “Not having to oversee two separate police departments is going to benefit “me” my department and “my family”. Sheriff Rivera went on to say “your Sheriff is elected by the people and that’s super important when you are thinking about public safety, our community’s safety”
Sheriff Rivera, how is this extra cost to the community you were elected to serve, going to be great for our community?
Utah HB 84 School Safety Act was passed May 1, 2024:
Also, two months before the legislature bullied the sheriff into stepping down as CEO of the UPD, you were assigned by the Utah legislature under HB84 additional responsibilities as our elected Sheriff, your new duties as an elected Sheriff can be found under Utah title 53-22-103 School Security-County Sheriff Responsibilities-Coordination
In part, Sheriff’s new duties are to:
- To Identify an individual within the Sheriff’s Office a County Security Chief responsible in coordinating security responsibilities, protocols and required trainings between the state security chief, the sheriff’s office and the corresponding police chiefs who have a public school in their jurisdiction.
- collaborate with school safety and security specialists in these schools to conduct or coordinate with a designee from those law enforcement agencies the school safety needs assessments
- conduct building safety evaluations at least annually using results of the needs assessments to improve security polices and rules related to safety.
- collaborate and maintain effective communications regarding school safety with each school safety and security specialists, directors and local law enforcement agencies in their county.
- administer with the corresponding police chiefs that have schools in their jurisdiction the trainings, screening and approving and denying guardian applicants and administering the guardian training program.
Sounds like a lot of added responsibilities as Sheriff given there are approximately 253 (K-12) schools in Salt Lake County between Canyon, SLC, Jordan, Murray and Granite School Districts alone, according to an internet source.
Prior to 2010, when former Sheriff Jim Winder started up the Unified Police Department and worked with the Utah legislature in having the UPD approved and creating a second agency that didn’t need to happen, the legislature agreed that the Salt Lake County Sheriff would be the (CEO) of the Unified Police Department for obvious reasons. I’m not an attorney but seems you could have had one hell of an argument in your favor to keep and swear in those additional (247) sworn officers you lost back to the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office as Deputy Sheriff’s as we were prior to 2010.
Fact of the matter is you only swore in 83 deputies from the UPD to fill positions in your Canyon Patrol and Search and rescue unit which you have a statutory obligation to keep under your Duties of Sheriff under Utah law, oh and your Gang Unit. When if you had fought the legislature in court and had you won, you could have sworn in a total of 330 deputies instead of just 83.
I’m not seeing how you not opposing legislation and allowing the UPD to take 247 sworn law enforcement officers away from your department is “Great for our communities” as you were quoted as saying to the press. Seems this wasn’t planned out well, those 247 officers could have been used as School Resource Officers, (SRO’s) in schools in your areas of responsibility and could have helped you in fulfilling a Sheriff’s duties as mentioned earlier.
Sheriff Rosie Rivera, you yourself said YOU are elected by the people as their Sheriff and that a Sheriff’s job is “super important” for public safety. I couldn’t agree more. As a retired Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Deputy and Unified Police Officer of Salt Lake City myself, I have concerns at your ability to continue to run for office in the upcoming election for 2027 and think the people of Salt Lake County should know fully what has happened since you were designated by the democratic party in 2017 to fill former Jim Winder’s position of Sheriff when he suddenly left during his term as Sheriff.
Under Sheriff Rosie Rivera’s time as Sheriff from 2017 to July 1, 2024, the following contracts, combined with the loss of UPD areas have been lost:
Kearns, Magna, Millcreek, White City, Midvale, Holladay, Brighton, Copperton and Emigration Canyoh, Taylorsville, Herriman and Riverton, were lost during your leadership before the UPD split.
The Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office has always been big brother law enforcement in the county, the money, the big building, the resources, whittled down under your leadership to now a skeleton crew consisting of Canyon Patrol, Search and rescue team and a few Metro Gang Unit Detectives, am I missing anything?
Choose your next Sheriff for 2027 wisely,
Sincerely,
Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Deputy/Unified Police Officer (Retired)
Phil Snyder