Under the Heber City police logo on the department’s squad cars is a slogan that reads, “Protect with courage, serve with compassion.” According to Phil Kirk, a spokesperson for Heber City Police Department, it’s the guiding principle of the force.
On November 1st Heber City Police Chief David Booth and the department were recognized for that work when it received a law enforcement accreditation award. Booth has been the head of the department since 2012.
Accreditation is a certification given by the Utah Chiefs of Police Association (UCOPA). The Heber City Police Department is now one of 24 accredited in the state.
Kirk said accreditation is the gold standard for police departments and can take years to attain.
“It's basically like a certification by, in this case, the Utah Chiefs of Police Association, UCOPA that develop a way to certify that departments within State of Utah, who want to voluntarily comply with the policy and procedures that they feel are the standards for the best professionalism in the law enforcement field.”
Kirk explained one of the standards that must be met for accreditation is transparency.
“So you know, the officers in the department will see, you know, different policy and procedures that they'll follow," Kirk said. "And the community will also see that this is a department that's willing to go to that level, to meet the professionalism, standards, and to be transparent with the community. And that's one of the standards that's very highly evaluated for police departments has been open and transparent to the community.”
Along with transparency, Kirk said accountability and professionalism are the other primary standards the department met. He said it has taken Heber City about two years to complete the accreditation process.
“And once you've completed instituting those, then they come in with a train team of assessors to make sure that you are doing that and they review your policy procedures, they actually, you know, meet with your administrators and go through the department to see that those things are really actually taking place.”
Now that Heber City police department has become accredited the squad cars will feature the certification next to its slogan.
