“The work that our officers do every day embodies our mission statement to serve as the guardians of our community,” said Chief Mike Brown of the Salt Lake City Police Department (SLCPD). “This is what law enforcement is all about. Policing matters, and if we don’t have policing, we don’t have a safe and secure community.”
On June 17, 2022, the Salt Lake Chamber’s President’s Ambassadors toured the SLCPD’s Public Safety Building, including the evidence room, motorcycle garage, canine facility and 911 call center, to learn about the vital day-to-day services the police department provides.
The SLCPD was founded in 1851 when Salt Lake became the crossroads of the West and the population soared. It is one of the oldest police departments in the United States. The SLCPD has also pioneered the co-responder model, meaning social workers, who address mental health issues, are on-site rather than outsourced.
“The police cannot do their job without the professional work of those behind the scenes,” said Brown.
One of the goals of the SLCPD is to fill funded and unfunded sworn positions. Each individual undergoes extensive training, and the latest graduating class is full of diversity, including women and people with ethnically diverse backgrounds.
“We’re diversifying what we do to provide better services to our community,” said Brown. “It takes about ten months before anyone we hire hits the streets. These recruits could sit back and be lazy, but they want to step up and make a difference. That’s our future. They’re ready to do it.”
For more information on the SLCPD, visit slcpd.com.
The President’s Ambassadors (PAs) are a group of Utah business and community professionals who donate their time and energy to serve as official goodwill ambassadors for the Salt Lake Chamber. The PAs promote the mission of the Salt Lake Chamber within the business community of Utah. As well as, represent the Chamber and its membership at business and community events throughout the Salt Lake Valley. Learn more at slchamber.com/events-programs/presidents-ambassadors.
