South Jordan City Police Department - 2022 Annual Report

2022 Annual Report

South Jordan City

Police Department

Table of Contents

2022 Message from the Chief

In 2022, we continued to see growth in our city as we move forward from the Pandemic. Our total police incidents did not increase from 2021 but we’re up about 6,000 incidents from 2020 during the height of the Pandemic. However, with the development of the west side of the city, the proposed annexation of over 2,000 acres, and the economic development including the new baseball stadium for the Bees baseball team, we can expect additional calls for service for the foreseeable future.

The police department will do its best to ensure we are prepared to respond to the challenges that will surely come our way. We will work hard to develop our relationship with you, our residents, in the safety and protection of you and your family. What can you do to support our efforts? First, please help us by following the 4S Pledge for a Safer South Jordan. This traffic safety program is educational. The four “S’s” are, Slow down, Stop completely at all stop signs and stop lights, Stay off your phone, and wear your Seatbelt. If we would do that consistently as a city, we would have a safer community and I could reassign resources currently dedicated to these problems. Second, please secure valuables in your vehicles and keep anything worth stealing out of sight. Remember to lock your car, about half of our vehicle burglaries are unlocked cars.

Jeff Carr Chief of Police

By way of programs, we started our 10-10-10 program to target speeding problems in various areas of the city. The program means that we target 10 areas at least 10 times over 10 weeks. We publish those areas so residents know where we are seeing problems and complaints in hopes of gaining voluntary compliance. We have also allowed our residents to nominate areas of concern through social media. It is so important that you, our residents, are part of the solution. Additionally, I would encourage all residents to talk to their neighbors and contact us about a Neighborhood Watch. In today’s world, we need to be better connected as neighborhoods and communities for a variety of reasons, but certainly to support each other in reducing and preventing crime.

Lastly, looking forward to 2023, we hope to engage our residents more by increasing the number of public forums where we can positively interact with you, answer questions, and create stronger partnerships. The police department is lucky to have such an engaged and supportive community and we look forward to providing you the best in police services. We try to live our mission statement that reads, “We provide professional police services, through engaged community partnerships, consistent with the values of South Jordan City.”

It is an honor and a pleasure to serve as your police chief and I hope if you have any questions or concerns, you will not hesitate to reach out.

Jeff Carr, Police Chief

South Jordan was primarily a rural farming community when it became incorporated as a town in 1935. In 1960 the population was 1,354 and by 1970 the population had more than doubled to 2,942. Housing gradually started to replace farmland as the population once again more than doubled by 1980 to 7,492. Then in 1990 it nearly doubled again to 13,106. The 2021 population was 79,200. This type of growth brings many kinds of challenges and opportunities. South Jordan is committed to preserving the natural beauty of this area.

Mission Statement

Provide professional police services through engaged community partnerships consistent with the values of South Jordan City.

Police Department Values

Character

Acting with Integrity, Fairness, and Compassion, Holding Ourselves Accountable for our Actions.

Competence

Promoting Education and Training, Learning from Experiences, Using our Intelligence to Solve Problems, and Turning Knowledge into Wisdom.

Trust

Building Trust with Community and Each Other, Ensuring our Words Align with our Actions.

Transparency

Openness with the Community and Each Other, Understanding that our Authority Comes from the Public We Serve.

South Jordan City

Police Department

Police Administration

The Office of the Chief includes the Police Chief, Deputy Police Chief, an Executive Assistant, and a Technical Services Specialist. Together we focus on the Mission, Vision, and Values of the organization and maintain responsibility for all financial management, policy management, legislative coordination, technology, internal affairs, human resources, and employee health and wellness.

In 2022, we enjoyed the prospect of the road to recovery from the COVID-19 Pandemic. We often found ourselves adapting as challenges presented themselves and we continued to work hard to keep people available and healthy to respond to calls for service in the community. Many of our operational practices have returned in full force and we are back to business as usual, or at least reasonably so. The dynamics of policing are forever evolving and we continue to meet and exceed the demands as we work to implement new practices and technology to further advance the health and safety of our community. Proudly, we have continued to expand our technology capability in multiple areas to support our mission, vision, and values.

We previously saw year over year reductions of our instances of Use of Force, but 2020 was a little different and we saw an increase. In 2021, we reported a reduction from 2020 back to 111 instances of use of force. Unfortunately, this was short-lived and our instances where we used force increased by 27%to 146.

We are entering our third year with our reasonably new Mobile Client and Report Management System and we continue to utilize the vast information the system provides to continue supporting our operations. We are preparing to launch “Automated Vehicle Location” data to help bring our dispatching to the next level. Using AVL data, the dispatchers can enter a command that locates the closest car to the call for service and dispatches them. It is our hope this will continue to improve our efficiency.

As we look ahead to 2023, we hope to continue to develop our police officers and supporting personnel to offer our citizens with the best police services in the region. We also look forward to enjoying more interaction and community events together this year!

Jason Knight

Deputy Chief of Police

Patrol Division

The Patrol Division within the South Jordan Police Department consists of one lieutenant and four sergeants who are responsible for the following areas:

• Patrol Unit

• Tactical Unit

• K9 Unit

Patrol Unit

The Patrol Unit consists of 4 sergeants and 38 officers who are responsible for providing uniformed patrol services to over 80,000 residents across 22.1 square miles. These men and women are who you most commonly see while going about your day and are responsible for responding to calls for service ranging from in progress emergencies to telephonic reports. While working towards our vision of providing a safe community through engaged community partnerships and navigating the challenges of a growing community, these officers handled approximately 38,300 calls for service during 2022.

Matt Pennington Lieutenant

Patrol Division

Tactical Unit

Fourteen officers from the South Jordan Police Department are part of a multi-jurisdictional tactical unit, known as the South Valley SWAT Team. The team provides service to the communities of South Jordan, Riverton, and Herriman. During 2022, they were deployed fourteen times on various incidents that ranged from assisting neighboring jurisdictions to dealing with high-risk operations.

Patrol Division

K-9 Unit

The K-9 Unit is comprised of two officers who each run a single purpose narcotics dog. Timber is a 5 1/2 year-old German Shepherd from Slovakia and Malek is a 7 year-old Belgian Malinois who was retired from service in August 2022. During 2022, they were deployed nearly 60 times, resulting in numerous arrests and the recovery of hundreds of pounds of illegal narcotics.

Timber Malek

South Jordan City

Police Department

INVESTIGATIONS Division

The Investigations Division within the South Jordan Police Department consists of one Lieutenant and one Sergeant who are responsible for the following areas:

• Investigations Unit

• Victim Services Unit

• Property and Evidence Unit

Rob Hansen Lieutenant

Investigations Division

Investigations Unit

The South Jordan Investigations Division is made up of specialized units to include general investigators, crime scene and forensics personnel, evidence custodians and victim advocates. The division primarily works persons and property crimes within South Jordan but also collaborates with other state and local agencies in joint investigations. The unit operates flexible schedules and detectives are subject to call in at all hours. Each detective has scheduled working hours and is additionally assigned an “on call” status many times throughout the year. Detectives must be able to respond at any time to any incident needing investigative support. In addition, detectives conduct regular checks on sexual offenders/predators to make sure that they are in compliance with state and local requirements.

PROPERTY AND EVIDENCE UNIT

The Property and Evidence Unit is responsible for the management of all evidence seized or held by the Police Department. All evidence is documented, held, inventoried, and accounted for by staff. The two full time employees also provide crime scene and forensic response to patrol as well as manage the prescription drug take back events in collaboration with local DEA.

Technical Services Specialist

Marissa Hayes works in the office of the Police Chief. She provides multiple services including Quartermaster responsibilities, technical support, body camera redactions, armour, and police department fleet.

VICTIM SERVICES Unit

The Victim Services Unit consists of two full-time advocates who were able to provide services to approximately 351 victims in 2022. These individuals review incidents to determine resources to help people who have been impacted by crime or those individuals who could benefit from services or help in recovery. Advocates play a critical role in working with law enforcement to ensure that each victim is provided help in navigating the legal system as well as meeting the needs of those people who are effected by violence or crime.

South Jordan City

Police Department

SPECIAL Services Division

The Special Services Division is comprised of one Lieutenant, three Sergeants, a Support Services Supervisor, and a variety of non-sworn positions that support daily operations in the police department.

Peer support unit

The Peer Support Team is a team of South Jordan Police Department (SJPD) members, established to assist SJPD members and their families, in any event or situation where support would likely provide benefit to the member and/or family. The purpose of the Peer Support Team is to provide for the immediate needs of affected employees and their families (as needed) and to explain investigatory processes to employees/families involved in critical incidents. Additionally, team members offer support for personnel and their families who experience stresses generated by the role of law enforcement in today’s society.

Support Services

The Support Services Unit oversees the retention and dissemination of police department records. Some of these responsibilities include fulfilling GRAMA requests, ensuring compliance with state and federal reporting mandates, and administering department access to BCI.

School Resource officers

A school resource officer (SRO) is assigned to every school in South Jordan. SRO’s have a unique role where they work closely with school administration to find reasonable remedies to problems that occur at school. The SRO’s at Bingham and Valley High teach an elective law enforcement class to seniors. Middle School SRO’s teach D.A.R.E. to 5th graders within the boundaries of their respective schools.

SPECIAL SERVICES Statistics

Background Investigation Checks: 91

Disseminated Records: 3,106

GRAMA Requests: 2,096

Expungements: 569 (one-year increase of 450)

Fingerprints: 361

Right of Access - Utah Criminal History: 160

Case Winder Lieutenant

Crossing guard unit

The Special Services Division oversees the department’s crossing guards - 46 full-time and 6 substitute - that cover 28 school crossings within the city.

SPECIAL Services Division

Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (SUAS)

The sUAS has four pilots and two drones that are primarily used for major traffic accident investigation. sUAS pilots had 420 training flights and over 30 operational deployments. The use of sUAS can reduce the initial on-scene investigation of major accidents by several hours.

TRAFFIC UNIT

The Traffic Unit is comprised of one sergeant and three officers. Traffic officers focus on accident investigation and traffic law enforcement, with many trained to ride BMW motorcycles. We partner with Herriman and Riverton Cities as a member of the South Valley Crash Investigators for response to major accidents. The team investigated 14 major accidents and assisted other Salt Lake County Police agencies throughout the year.

Training unit

The Training Unit provides training opportunities throughout the year to comply with legislative and POST mandates. Police officers are required to obtain a minimum of 40 hours of training each year to maintain their peace officer certification. In 2022, officers averaged 85 hours of training.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

Community Outreach officers train new neighborhood watch groups, provides safety classes for churches and private businesses, offers bicycle safety classes for kids, and inspects car seats and installation. The goal of community outreach is to form a cooperative relationship with the public to make a safer community.

South Jordan City

Police Department

Community Advisory Board

The Community Advisory Board meets with the Police Chief, Jeff Carr, on a quarterly basis. At this meeting; ideas are shared, surveys are reviewed, concerns are addressed; and suggestions are noted and if possible implemented. This Board is a great asset to our city as they serve as liaisons between individuals of the city and the Police Department. Their time and efforts are greatly appreciated. Back Row; Police Chief Jeff Carr, Kip Day, Greg Hughes, Justin Petersen, Laurie Payne. Front Row: Adrianne Jones and Laurel Bevans.

Dates of Service: 09/18/2006 - 03/31/2023

Years of Service: 16

Retirements

Detective Johnathan Campbell

South Jordan City

Police Department

South Jordan City

Police Department

CRIME RATE PER 1,000 AND POPULATION

South Jordan City

Police Department

Annual Award Banquet

The Annual Awards Banquet was held outdoors. Officers voted to have a more informal Annual Awards Banquet allowing families to join in the festivities. Children enjoyed bounce houses, face painting and outdoor games. Officers and individuals were honored for their hard work and dedication.

Medal of Valor: Officer Garrett Williams

The Medal of Valor is awarded to employees who unselfishly, and at great personal risk of life, perform an act of saving a life or otherwise performs an act of courage that places the employee in grave danger. In recognition for the actions taken on November 26, 2011, during the search for a dangerous individual. After hearing shots fired, Officer Williams courageously moved towards an unknown threat, placing himself in grave danger. He immediately encountered a fleeing, armed individual, and used force to defend himself and fellow officers. His unselfish actions prevented the escape and secured the apprehension of a dangerous felon who posed a substantial threat to his life and the lives of other officers.

Purple

Heart Medal: Officer Caleb Wilson

The Purple Heart may be awarded to employees who sustain injuries requiring significant medical treatment, while in the course of their Police duties.

Awarded for the injuries sustained on November 26, 2021, where Officer Wilson was critically injured during the search for a dangerous individual. Despite the life-threatening nature of his injuries, he maintained composure and relayed information to dispatch as he prepared his own tourniquet. His actions are a testament to his unwavering will to live and resilient mindsight in the wake of a threat to his life.

Annual Award Banquet

Life Saving Medal: Sergeant Matt Adams Distinguished Unit Citation

The Lifesaving Medal is awarded to employees and/or citizens who, in the course of their duties or everyday life, perform an act that greatly contributes to the saving of another human life. On November 26, 2001, at the scene of an Officer Involved Critical Incident, where you rendered aid to Officer Wilson after he was critically shot. The tourniquet you placed sustained the officer’s life during transport and emergency treatment, ultimately contributing to saving his life.

The Distinguished Unit Citation is awarded to individuals in a division or unit who during the course of a project, investigation, or assignment performs meritorious service leading to the success of a difficult assignment of project while working as a team. On November 26, 2021, after Officer Wilson was shot, several officers secured the scene and began to render medical aid. They maintained composure and professionalism in the wake of a chaotic and uncertain situation, a testament to their commitment to this department and the community they serve.

Sergeant Adrian Montelong Officer Sebastian Dessert Officer Andres Gorman

Officer Sean Mueller Officer Reace Williams Officer TJ Wenner

The Officers Cross is awarded to employees who, under circumstances not rising to the high level of the medal of valor, distinguishes themselves in the course of their duties by performing an act of great courage. On November 26, 2001, during the search for a dangerous individual, Officer Wilson demonstrated great courage by shooting and disabling an armed individual who posed an immediate threat to his life and the life of a fellow officer. His actions prevented additional life-threatening assaults on other officers and contributed to the capture of a dangerous felon.

South Jordan City

Annual Award Banquet

Chief’s Awards

Police Department

Detective Paul Houston

Rick Chamberlain

Annual Award Banquet

South Jordan Police Department honored City Manager Gary Whatcott for his many years of service and support on behalf of the police department. Gary Whatcott is retiring at the end of June 2023.

South Jordan City

Police Department

Senior Officer Mark Squire

Officer Thomas is currently assigned to Valley High School as a School Resource Officer. For those of you that don’t know, Valley High School is an alternative high school for students that are experiencing a variety of challenges. has developed an excellent relationship with the school administration and students. He has also been asked covered Rivers Edge over the past few months while a fellow SRO is on approved leave which is middle school with students with behavioral and other challenges. This assignment is the most challenging School Resource assignment. Officer Thomas manages the needs of both schools with a positive attitude and without complaint. are grateful to have Officer Thomas as a member of our police department. Preston is also one of our Drone pilots, I believe one of the original group, he does a great job for us.

Blue, Red, Green Event

June 15, 2022, The South Jordan Chamber honored our Police, Fire and Public Works heroes at their Blue, Red, and Green Event held at Glenmoor Golf Course. City leadership was there to honor the good work the employees of South Jordan are doing. From the police department, the following individuals were recognized at the event.

Senior Officer Preston Thomas Senior Officer Mark Squire

Officer Thomas is currently assigned to Valley High School as a School Resource Officer. For Officer Squire is a member of our traffic unit. As a member of the traffic unit he is responsible

Officer Squire is a member of our traffic unit. As a member of the traffic unit he is responsible for investigating traffic accidents and traffic enforcement. He is on our multiple -agency CRASH team that investigates fatal traffic accidents and is one of only a few accident reconstructionist ( a very specialized investi requires). He is pretty much everything traffic and he does a great job. Mark is also a member of the Unit that responds valley -wide to large unlawful protests. We appreciate Mark’s many contributions department. In addition to his many accomplishments in the traffic area, our records unit pointed example of being kind, approachable, and helpful to coworkers through his interactions with records members. He is willing to answer their questions and help fix errors even if the accident report is not goes the extra mile to follow -up later to ensure he was helpful. Officer Squire is quick to help at the when citizens need to speak with an officer, even if he’s busy. Records staf f expressed their appreciation Squire for his team mindset and positive attitude.

Senior Officer Preston Thomas

investigating investigates serious and gator that the Public Order contributions to the out Mark as an records staff not his, and often the front counter appreciation to Officer

Blue, Red, Green Event

Technical Services Specialist Marissa Hayes Records Technician III Renata Treat

Marissa Hayes is the Technical Services Specialist for the South Jordan Police Department. Marissa handles all of our equipment and uniforms, maintains our technical systems, and generally supports the Office of the Chief in procurement, electronic records maintenance, and deployment of our many software systems and electronic devices. This is a challenging role, because there are so many moving parts and we rely heavily on Marissa’s organization skills to make it all come together. Much like all of our civilian personnel, the role she serves is kind of an unsung hero… Always in the background, supporting our sworn police officers to keep them properly equipped with functioning and serviceable equipment, and keeping up our electronic and software systems, which is substantial. Marissa does all of this while

When you think of the contributions a person makes to their place of employment; some things can be measured by quantity and quality. Other contributions are made by attitude and excellence; which are much harder to measure.

Renata embodies all of these! Her quantity and quality of work is beyond the expectation of an average employee. She always goes above the “expected” and strives for excellence. She takes time to notice what needs to be done and moves forward. She looks beyond each task, creating priorities, gets it done; so she can move forward to the next task.

But more than a check off list of tasks to do; Renata takes time to add her personal touch. Her work ethic, positive attitude and fun personality makes the ordinary day, brighter!

South Jordan City

Police Department

Investigations Analyst Sarah Schaaf

Sarah has been a tremendous asset and resource for the investigations division. She is a Versaterm wizard and keeps not only the investigation division records accurate but also submits all of the screening paperwork to the District Attorney for the Police Department. Sarah consistently exceeds expectations and is very efficient in her duties. We would struggle to replace her contributions and we are very grateful to have her as part of our organization.

Blue, Red, Green Event

Police Administrative Assistant Jeanene Clark

Jeanene came to us about 4 years ago in a part-time capacity. She didn’t have any police related experience at the time but was a quick study. Fairly recently she has transitioned to full-time and is responsible to provide assistance to the Police Chief, the Deputy Chief, and three lieutenants. She manages us well and keeps us in line. It is not uncommon for me to give her a project with the instructions to put this on your list of things to get done, it doesn’t have to be done today, maybe just in the next few weeks, and she will report back within hours assignment completed. She routinely handles multiple projects and has produced our department annual report for the last several years. She is an excellent representative for the police department and has a very positive attitude that is truly infectious. She is very organized and detail oriented and I don’t know what I would do without her.

Blue, Red, Green Event

Senior Officer Aubrey hourlier

Officer Hourlier is one of our officers who consistently shows up to work and does a great job. She handles her calls in a professional manner, and embodies our values of character, competence, trust and transparency. Officer Hourlier takes pride in her work, and often follows up on her own cases when time allows. Which as the city grows and the officers are busier, it becomes easier for officers to pass the case to investigations. Aubrey is a worker and I appreciate that about her. She is also one of our Field Training Officers or FTOs. An FTO is charged with the critical task of training new officers on how to do their job correctly. We appreciate her efforts in this area, frankly there is nothing more important than getting a career off on the right foot. Aubrey helps ensure every new officer gets the appropriate training. Aubrey is also one of our peer support unit members. She and other peer support members have given of themselves to help other officers and give them someone to talk to when needed.

Master Officer McKelle Jordan

McKelle and her husband recently had a baby so she isn’t with us today but she is one of the most senior detectives in the investigations division. Mckelle currently works both property and persons crimes as well as maintains our sex offender registry. Mckelle is very efficient in her processes and maintains an orderly work flow with any given assignment. Mckelle’s strength is her organization and report writing and we are grateful for her work ethic and thank her for her contributions.