But sometimes Salt Lake County sheriff's deputies have checked out of their assigned suburbs for weeks and sometimes months at a time - to build houses, give birth or serve in the armed forces - all without replacements.

And while those communities continue to pay for the deputies' services, this policing gap rankles some mayors who are pondering whether to stick with the sheriff's office or create their own police forces.

"I know how many officers we paid for," said Riverton Mayor Bill Applegarth. "But I don't know how many [are] out there."

With their ranks narrowed, some suburbs are forced to rely on deputies who cross jurisdictions to assist with emergency calls - a service the Sheriff's Office touts as safeguarding communities when vacation, sick leave and other unforeseen events pull deputies off the streets.

"We essentially are paying for coverage that is not being provided," said Cottonwood Heights Mayor Kelvyn Cullimore, whose city has suffered four to five protracted absences at once.

Sheriff Jim Winder insists that the county's suburbs aren't slighted police protection. Rather, they are getting the people they paid for, plus help from deputies in surrounding jurisdictions.

Why the disconnect between the sheriff and his suburban clientele? The sheriff has provided a level of personnel. The suburbs thought they were getting a specific level of service.

"It seems like there has been a gap of what has been expected on all sides," Salt Lake County Councilman Mark Crockett said when the issue flared last month at a meeting of the sheriff and mayors.

The parties will discuss the topic May 22 when they meet at the Sheriff's Office as members of the recently formed Administrative Control Board.

The sheriff has offered to backfill any deputy positions left vacant in the suburbs for more than three weeks. The Cottonwood Heights contract already includes that provision, but Cullimore said it hasn't happened yet.

Winder also plans to offer the suburbs what they want - a guaranteed level of service.

It could amount to more deputy overtime, or hiring more officers to serve as a "backfill pool" when communities lose manpower, Winder said. Both options would cost the suburbs more money.

What Winder really wants is a countywide approach to policing, without jurisdictional bickering about who's getting resources and who's not.

"There are solutions to all of these issues," he said. "But at what point do we look at this globally, instead of looking at it as, 'What is good for me.' Here we have an opportunity to be working together."

jstettler@sltrib.com