Specialized Units within the Bountiful Police Department
Most police departments are organized into divisions or specialized units. Each until has special functions, which helps the police department provide services to the community in a more efficient and effective manner.
Bountiful City is one of the few cities in the County that has its own dispatch center. Dispatchers are the first people you speak with when calling our business line or 911. They are responsible for prioritizing calls, dispatching police for the City of Bountiful, and dispatching medical and fire personnel to all the South end Davis County cities.
The patrol division is the most visible of the specialized units. Patrol Officers wear a uniform, drive marked vehicles, and patrol business districts and neighborhoods. The high visibility of this division provides the community with a police presence that helps deter crime. The Patrol division is also responsible for responding to calls for service, providing assistance to the community, and enforcing all Utah State Criminal and Traffic Laws and Bountiful City Ordinances.
Detectives
The Detective Division is responsible for following up on cases that cannot be immediately resolved by patrol, or handle cases where specialized training is required. Some cases require additional, and time consuming, investigations that may take the detective to another city. It would not be feasible for patrol to get involved in such investigations because they would not be available to fulfill their primary duties. Detectives drive unmarked vehicles and do not wear a uniform.
School Resource Officers
The Bountiful Police Department has a School Resource Officer in each of the two High Schools. These officers work full-time at the school and deal with security issues at the school and during school activities or functions, juvenile problems, and any criminal activity within the school. They assist the administration in resolving disputes between students, parents, and school employees. They work as a liaison between the school and police department.
PROS I & PROS II Officers
Each of the junior high and elementary schools has a part-time PROS officer. P.R.O.S stands for Police Reaching Out to Students. These officers may teach safety classes or law related education classes to students, deal with school security issues, handle juvenile problems, and address criminal activity at the schools.
Davis Metro Narcotics
Davis Metro Narcotics Strike Force is a task force that is specifically tasked with addressing the sale, supply, manufacturing, and use of drugs. This unit does most of its work undercover and its jurisdiction is the entire county of Davis County. Bountiful Police donates an officer to this task force.
The Community Resource Officer is responsible for most tasks involving the dissemination of information to the public. This individual gives tours of the station, speaks to groups about safety issues, and provides safety information, handouts, and pamphlets to citizens and businesses. This officer is also responsible for supervising and hiring crossing guards, overseeing school programs, maintaining the crime lab, and the proper handling and storage of evidence.
The Bountiful Police Department has Crime Lab personnel that respond to crime scenes for the purpose of processing and documenting those scenes. Crime Lab Technicians typically take photographs, video, and/or diagram the scene for documentation. If feasible, they might also collect and package evidence at the scene and dust for latent finger prints. If processing the evidence requires special knowledge or equipment it is sent to the state or county crime lab. Physical Evidence can play an important role is solving crimes, exonerating the innocent, and prosecuting the guilty.
During the summer, the two full-time School Resource Officers patrol the city on bicycles. They provide the business districts with added security and enforce criminal and traffic laws. Bike officers also assist with public relations, as they are more accessible to the community while on their bikes, as opposed to driving around in cars.
Motorcycle Patrol
Motorcycle patrol in the city of Bountiful occurs during the summer and the main focus is enforcing watershed laws in the foothills of the city and ensuring that vehicles recreating in these areas are properly registered and safe. Officers working these shifts work them on an overtime basis. The police department has two dirt/road bikes that are used for this assignment. Officers might also enforce traffic laws on the streets in the area they are patrolling.
SWAT
S.W.A.T stands for Special Weapons and Tactics. SWAT teams respond to non-routine situations that the patrol division doesn’t have the personnel, time, equipment, and, sometimes, training to address. The SWAT team’s objective is to resolve issues as quickly and safely as possible. They do this by attempting to isolate the problem, utilize negotiators to negotiate the safe release of victims and hostages, and facilitate the peaceful surrender of suspects.
Reserves
The Bountiful Police Department has had a reserve program for a number of years. Reserve Officers are trained in the same police academies as regular, full-time officers. The Reserve Officer works full-time somewhere else, then comes here to work shifts along side the full-time officers. The Reserves are required to go through a lengthy field training program with a full-time officer. After completing the training, they are allowed to patrol by themselves. Reserves handle police calls, make arrests, issue citations, and assist full-time officers. The Reserves also help out with parades and other special events. Our Reserves work a minimum of 16 hours a month.