Mayors and police chiefs from across Salt Lake County joined Tuesday to formally announce the creation of the Valley Police Alliance.
Huddled in Midvale City Hall, city leaders spoke about the partnership meant to continue their local policing control while allowing benefits from merging.
"We will be more efficient and more effective as we deal with crime within our city and crime within our county," said Midvale Mayor JoAnn Seghini.
The Valley Police Alliance will provide cities with the means to collaborate, beyond just emergency situations, said Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank. The idea for the partnership emerged after his department and West Valley City's considered building a new evidence facility together to save money, Burbank said.
Most cities have mutual-aid and interlocal agreements that they'll share resources -- like SWAT and K9 units -- during emergencies. But the cities hope the alliance will expand those partnerships so they can build facilities together, share experts or buy equipment in bulk, said West Valley Chief Thayne Nielsen.
"These are truly difficult economic times," he said, so departments have an obligation to maintain the quality of policing while cutting costs.
The cities will next work on formalizing the rules and agreements within the alliance, Nielsen said, and each city will maintain its autonomy by being able to opt out of any joint venture.
One new partner announced on Tuesday is Salt Lake County.
"We look forward to being part of the alliance as we create the [Unified Police District]," said County Mayor Peter Corroon.
For County Sheriff Jim Winder, who attended the gathering, he said the alliance won't provide for the true economies of scale seen in merged police units, it enhances and increases support between the various departments.
"We've had two decades of fragmentation of law enforcement in Salt Lake County," Winder said during an interview after the press conference. "And this comes full circle."
The Valley Police Alliance began as an attempt to partner the 11 municipal police departments in Salt Lake County.
So far, the alliance has been approved by city councils in Cottonwood Heights, Draper, Midvale, Murray, Sandy, South Jordan, South Salt Lake, West Jordan and West Valley City.
Votes are still pending in Taylorsville and Salt Lake City.
Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon and County Sheriff Jim Winder said Tuesday they want to join the alliance once their Unified Police District is created. The Unified Police District would rearrange county policing to allow more local input from the cities which contract for police services.
