More police officers could be streaming to the banks of the Jordan River sometime next year as concerns over crime persist in Utah’s capital.
The Salt Lake City Council wants to speed up the hiring of 12 new officers and creation of two squads dedicated solely to patrolling the Jordan River, its trail and nearby neighborhoods.
On Tuesday, council members signaled their support to start recruiting early for new patrol positions in the city’s police department so hires can enroll in the next police academy cohort in January instead of waiting until May. The council also showed support for buying police cars for the future recruits.
If the hires are able to join the academy in January, city staffers estimate they’ll be fully trained in 10 months. At that point, 12 experienced officers would form the two new squads and the recent hires would join the department elsewhere. That means residents could expect to see more patrols along the river next October or November.
The city received a $1.5 million grant from the federal Department of Justice to pay part of the new officers’ salaries.
Council members voted informally Tuesday to allocate funds for the new squad cars and advertising for the new roles as part of a larger budget amendment that still needs formal approval. If passed, the city would pay for the rest of the recruits’ salaries, their equipment and other related costs to the tune of about $1.6 million this year.
The additional hires would bring the total number of police officers in Salt Lake City to 630.
Crime and homelessness along the Jordan River have prevented the corridor from reaching its potential and have forced residents to change how and when they use the waterway.
