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West Valley City Police Chief to retire effective September 8th

Posted at 3:16 PM, Sep 01, 2017
and last updated 2017-09-01 17:20:07-04

WEST VALLEY CITY – After four years of service, Chief Lee Russo has announced he will retire from West Valley City Police effective September 8.

According to a press release issued Friday, Russo says he never intended for West Valley City to be his permanent home and is looking forward to seeking out new opportunities.

Russo says that he has accomplished the goals he set out to reach during his leadership. According to West Valley City that meant, “regaining the trust of our residents and community” for his police force.

“In the four years that I have served as Chief of Police, we have set the West Valley City Police Department on a course, not only to be better than it has been in the past, but to be one of the very best police agencies in the nation. We have led the way locally and across the country in addressing the sexual assault kit backlog. We have developed victim-focused protocols that made it more likely that someone who commits sexual assault will be prosecuted for their crime. We set the example in our community by saying that when someone comes to us and tells us that they have been sexually assaulted, we will start by believing,” said Russo.

According to West Valley City’s statement, “the police department has succeeded in connecting with the public, and is a state of the art department once again standing proudly amongst its sister jurisdictions.”

The full letter from Russo is embedded below:

Chief Russo Statement on retirement by kstumarkgreen on Scribd