The Townships of Kearns and Magna are divided into two separate precincts that are administered together for economy of scale. Deputies are assigned to a specific community but are allowed, at the direction of their sergeants, to float between the two areas as call volume dictates or the need arises. This shared approach allows each community a sense of personal law enforcement with their own deputies, while allowing the supervisors to move personnel between the two as required.

       Both precincts are administered from the Kearns (WELCKER MEMORIAL) Sub-Station at 4250 West 5415 South. The Kearns facility provides areas for roll call, training and interview rooms, as well as a physical fitness area while the Magna Sub-Station is much smaller. Both locations are open weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and available for walk-in reports. Each location has a secretary and working areas for property crime detectives and community oriented detectives.

     The Kearns and Magna Precincts are supervised by one captain and one lieutenant. They share 6 patrol sergeants and one investigative sergeant. Each Township additionally has two property crime detectives and one full time fraud detective working for them. They are joined by two community oriented policing deputies for each area and both have a specialized and equipped traffic enforcement deputy assigned. A full-time school resource officer within each precinct is assigned to respond to the area schools. At present Kearns has 26 deputies assigned and Magna has 26 deputy allocations. There is one crime analyst position that serves both areas as well as the Southwest precincts.

     In addition to the services provided within these two precincts, members of the community also enjoy the benefits of being able to call upon all members of the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office including the pooled services of the Violent Crimes Unit, Family Crimes Unit, Neighborhood Narcotics Unit, Crime Scene Unit, Metro Gang Unit, K-9, SWAT and Search and Rescue.

PROBLEM ORIENTED POLICING

     The emphasis of these two precincts is centered on Problem Oriented Policing (POP). “POP” is really nothing new. In fact, it’s actually a step back to the days when deputies were more familiar with the communities they served. The ultimate goal of POP is the development of a more effective response. In a time of shrinking resources we find we have to work smarter and look beyond the traditional role of the police in dealing with community problems. Problem Oriented Policing urges deputies to be more aggressive partners with the community and other public agencies. Greater initiative on the part of deputies will not only place the Sheriff’s Office in a much more positive light in the community it serves, it will also contribute to a positive working environment within our agency. The typical internal environment in any police department is often demoralized because so many of the problems left to the police are unsolvable or have just been ignored by others. By slowing down and looking for the cause of the problem, rather than just treating the symptom, we are making a difference in the communities we serve.

     Successes, such as the after school programs at Kearns Junior High School, Kearns Library the Clean Streets Initiative and the venue protection plan in place at Magna’s Saltair Resort have all grown out of this philosophy.