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Salt Lake Police Dept. welcomes 40 new officers, looks to hire more

Posted at 2:02 PM, Feb 02, 2018
and last updated 2018-02-02 16:03:07-05

SALT LAKE CITY – The Salt Lake City Police Department is about to roll out 40 new officers.

The department said 23 will be rookies, the rest are transfers from other Utah departments, agencies and a couple from out of state.

Authorities say it all comes down to simple math; as Salt Lake City’s population grows, so does the need for more men and women in blue.

As Fox 13 has reported in the past, every police agency in the state has had certain challenges over the past few years attracting and hiring qualified officer candidates.

Cities are now offering better salary and benefits packages to entice brand new officers and, in some cases, to lure cops away from other agencies.

The bottom line is that this is a never-ending process and Salt Lake City officers said they feel very fortunate to have this new crop of cops ready to hit the streets.

Members of this new class are going through portions of their final orientation Friday.

Even with the 40 new officers, the department said it still needs to fill open positions.

This is now a year-round process and officials say anyone interested in becoming a Salt Lake City Police officer can contact the department at any time to set up an appointment.