ABOUT Cottonwood heights police

The Cottonwood Heights Police Department is the newest law enforcement organization in the Salt Lake Valley. Nestled at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains between Big Cottonwood and Little Cottonwood Canyons, Cottonwood Heights covers about nine square miles with a population of approximately 35,000 people. The city is the gateway to major ski resorts and recreational canyons, as well as offering an easy access to the valley's transportation system.

When the City of Cottonwood Heights incorporated in 2005, a contract was entered into with the Salt Lake County sheriff to continue as the main provider of police protection. This changed in 2007 when Cottonwood Heights Mayor Kelvyn Cullimore and the city council opted to form their own locally-controlled police department and terminated the contract with the county sheriff. This service ended on September 1, 2008 and the Cottonwood Heights Police Department was born.

The CHPD has entered into partnerships with other municipalities to achieve an economy of scale and to provide an appropriate response to any potential emergency. This is accomplished by starting our own SWAT team allowing us to provide local control and still accomplish the goal of providing quality pooled services to keep the citizens safe, as illustrated by SWAT, CSI Crime Lab Services and the major accident team reconstruction task force.

Today, Cottonwood Heights has some of the valley’s lowest crime rates, while the CHPD has great response times and some of the highest clearance rates of crimes. The cost for the service is equivalent to what the city would have paid the county for contracted services. As the city continues to grow, the CHPD will rise to meet the needs of its residents.

In September of 2015, the CHPD entered into an interlocal agreement with neighboring cities that allows Cottonwood Heights police personnel to render aid for those jurisdictions in case of emergencies. The agreement also allows for aid from those jurisdictions in case of a major event occurring in Cottonwood Heights. You can read the agreement here.

Also in September of 2015, the CHPD was the first Utah municipality to enter into an interlocal agreement with other Salt Lake County police agencies to form a task force meant to investigate Officer Involved Critical Incidents (OICI), such as officer-involved shootings,  in custody deaths and other investigations involving police officers. You can read that agreement here. You can read the OICI Protocol here.

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Nar-Can on the Way

• From CY 2012 to CY 2013, DUI/alcohol-related fatalities in Utah increased from 20 to 23 and DUI/drug-related fatalities increased from 37 to 45.
• There were 10,901 DUI arrests in FY 2014, 1,326 fewer than in the previous year. This represents a decrease of nearly 11 percent.
• Eighty-one percent of the arrests were for per se violations that included driving under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or both.
• Arrests included 1,296 made during specialized DUI overtime enforcement events such as enforcement blitzes, saturation patrols, and DUI sobriety checkpoints that involved 102 law enforcement agencies throughout the state.
• Almost 55 percent of all DUI arrests were made by municipal law enforcement agencies.
• Almost 12 percent of arrestees were under the legal drinking age of 21 and the youngest arrestee was 14 years old.
• The majority of DUI arrests occurred along the Wasatch Front with Weber, Davis, Salt Lake and Utah Counties accounting for nearly 72 percent of the total.
• While Utah’s population has continued to grow, the DUI arrest rate has declined steadily, with a nearly 36 percent decrease since FY 2009.
• Seventy percent of arrests were for a first DUI offense, 19 percent were for a second offense, almost seven percent were for a third offense, and four percent were for a fourth or subsequent offense.
• From CY 2012 to CY 2013, the percentage of total crash fatalities that were DUI/alcohol-related increased from 9.2 percent to 10.5 percent.
• From CY 2012 to CY 2013, the percentage of total crash fatalities that were DUI/drug-related increased from 17.1 percent to 20.5 percent.
• In FY 2014, there were 8,360 DUI cases in Utah’s Justice Courts. Among the cases resolved, 57 percent resulted in a guilty plea or verdict.
• In FY 2014, there were 2,104 DUI cases disposed by the state’s District Courts. Among the cases resolved, almost 72 percent resulted in a guilty plea or verdict.

Cottonwood Heights believes that one DUI-related death is one too many. We will continue to vigorously enforce against those who would put lives in danger by driving impaired.

Source: Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice