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SALT LAKE CITY — The Salt Lake City Police Department's top brass says the city doesn't need more officers, just better utilization of the ones it has.
On Tuesday, Deputy Chief Tim Doubt responded to an open letter written by the Salt Lake Police Association calling on the city to hire 25 to 30 more officers.
The union and President Mike Millard pointed to statistics that show burglaries, thefts, auto thefts and larcenies are up in Salt Lake City. The open letter came on the heels of some east-side residents calling for more officers to patrol their neighborhoods.
But Doubt compared crime statistics to the stock market, and noted that while there was a small spike in crime last year, it did not reflect an overall steady decrease in crime since 1995.
"We're a little disappointed that the union would use short-term statistics to try and drive a financial decision like this," Doubt said. "Just like the stock market ticks up and down, you have to look at the overall trends. And he was looking at just the ticks.
We're a little disappointed that the union would use short-term statistics to try and drive a financial decision like this. Just like the stock market ticks up and down, you have to look at the overall trends. And he was looking at just the ticks.
–SLCPD Deputy Chief Tim Doubt
"We realize there is an uptick right now but we don't think it's the general trend," he said.
Doubt said there has actually been a double digit drop in crime in Salt Lake City since the mid-1990s and about a 7 percent drop since 2008. Furthermore, once the current group of about 30 cadets complete their training, the city will have more officers on patrol than ever before.
The department is currently involved in an extensive workload study, he said, to determine whether the department's officers are being deployed in the best way. For example, Doubt said the department is looking at whether it is more important to have more officers on specialized task forces or on patrol. Doubt said the department is also looking at the hours officers work and possibly readjusting schedules so that more officers are working during the hours when there is typically higher crime.
The money that the union wants to use to hire more officers could be better used in areas like managing the department's aging fleet and computers, Doubt said.