In August 1901, under the supervision of Chief of Police Thomas A. Hilton, the Salt Lake City Police Department published a resume of the department?s history. The department had just attained its 50-year jubilee on January 12 of that same year. The occasion was allowed to pass virtually unnoticed by both press and public.

As preface to this brief history in 1901, an unknown writer did publish a rather descriptive tribute to the police officer of the day:

?Contrary to the generally accepted idea, it is not everyone who is fitted for the position of a policeman. Provided a man is in perfect physical condition, can keep his temper under the most trying conditions, is endowed with that rare quality ? tact, and is willing to take his chances on being maimed for life, or perchance killed, he may be accepted as a guardian of the lives and property of citizens. Having attained to the dignity of patrolman, he is subject to call at any moment when he may be required to be on duty for twenty-four hours at a stretch. When he kisses his wife and little ones good-bye before going on shift, he never knows how soon he may become target for the ready gun of a thug, or the recipient of a hearty kick from the heavy brogan of the miner who has come to town for a touch of high life.?

Over a century later, many things have changed in the Salt Lake City Police Department, but so many of the words still apply to the law enforcement profession today. It is the intent of this brief history to remind the reader of the past in hopes it can help guide the department into the future. If law enforcement has no concern for its history, it is destined to make the same mistakes.

As one reviews the history of Salt Lake?s police force, one can divide the flavor and tempo into three definitive eras:

The Mormon Department, 1851?1890
The Liberal Regime, 1890?1894
The Non-Partisan Force, 1894?present
For the first 39 years of the department?s existence, the LDS Church had tremendous influence. In 1890, as the Salt Lake Valley?s population began to grow and become more diverse, a Liberal Regime was put into place. This was a time of turmoil in the department. If a mayor was elected who was of a religious faith outside of the LDS Church, then all Mormon officers would be fired and new officers hired. If a mayor who was of the LDS faith came into office, then vice versa. By 1894 citizens would no longer tolerate political influences in the selection of the department?s personnel, and the present era of the Non-Partisan Force began.

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