Our Police Partnership

As your city leadership, we want to make sure you have the full story on a proposal we’re looking at for our police department. We’ve got a staffing challenge, and before we ask for more of your tax dollars, we want to try working smarter with our neighbors.

The Situation

Tremonton is growing—fast. While that’s good for our local economy, it puts a strain on our “boots on the ground.”

• The Gap: Right now, we’re operating with 5 fewer officers than a city our size typically needs.

• The Choice: We can either hit the taxpayers for an extra $600,000+ a year to hire more people permanently, or we can look for a creative partnership.

We’re looking at a 12-month partnership with the Perry Police Department. Think of it as a “neighbor helping neighbor” agreement.

• What Tremonton Gets: We gain immediate patrol capacity. Perry’s officers help cover our streets, meaning your calls get answered faster and our officers aren’t stretched thin.

• What Perry Gets: They get access to our specialized “big city” tools—like our SWAT team, K9 units, and experienced detectives—which they couldn’t afford on their own.

• The Cost: There is no tax increase tied to this trial. We’re using the resources we already have more effectively.

I’ve heard the concerns about “losing our identity,” and I want to set the record straight:

1. It’s a Trial: This isn’t a permanent marriage. It’s a test drive. We’ll track the data for a year. If it doesn’t work for Tremonton, we shake hands and go back to the way things were.

2. The SROs Stay Put: Our partnership with the School District is a priority. Our School Resource Officers aren’t going anywhere; they’ll stay focused on our kids and our schools.

3. The Towing Stays Local: We aren’t changing how our local businesses or towing rotations work.

We have a “Happiness Barometer” in this city. If the Council and the citizens aren’t happy and informed, we aren’t leading right. We want to solve our staffing shortage by being proactive, not by backing the Council into a corner with ultimatums.

The City Council will be discussing this on February 17th. You’ve got two weeks to chew on this info. Reach out to me or your Council members with your “raw thoughts.” We work for you, and we want to get this right.