January 5, 2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact Information: PolicePRUnit@slcgov.com

SLCPD Releases Response Times for December 2022

SALT LAKE CITY — Today, the Salt Lake City Police Department released its response times for December 2022, which showed the department’s overall average response time improved 3 minutes and 23 seconds when compared to December 2021.

Response times to calls for service is a metric the Salt Lake City Police Department is constantly striving to improve.

A police department’s response time can be calculated two ways – the cumulative response time and the actual drive-time response after the first available officer is dispatched to a scene. The cumulative response time includes the time a person spends on the phone with 9-1-1, call processing time, dispatch time and an officer’s drive to the scene.

Response times vary across the country and are dependent on many complex factors that are distinctive to each jurisdiction.

In December 2022, the average response times were as follows (formatted as MM:SS):

·         Priority 1 – 11:45, an increase of 00:59 from December 2021.

·         Priority 2 – 14:40, an improvement of 02:15 from December 2021.

·         Priority 3 – 31:01, an improvement of 04:46 from December 2021.

The combined overall average response time, which includes all Priority 1-3 responses, for December 2022 was 22:52, an improvement of 03:23 from December 2021.

As previously stated, the Salt Lake City Police Department anticipates response times to vary as its mandatory overtime patrol shifts come to an end.

The department is currently looking into why Priority 1 calls for service increased from November 2022 to December 2022. Preliminarily, the department continued to see an increase in overall calls for service partly due to significant weather incidents throughout December and lower staffing due to the holidays.

Overall response times have dropped to 2019 levels despite staffing challenges and a significant increase in calls for service. As of January 03, 2023, the Salt Lake City Police Department has 47 vacant positions for police officers.

Operationally, the Salt Lake City Police Department is down 22%, which includes the 47 vacant positions, number of officers currently in training and officers on some sort of leave, including military and family leave. The Salt Lake City Police Department continues to work with the Mayor and City Council to expand recruitment, retention and increase its authorized staffing level.

The Salt Lake City Police Department is also working with SLC911 and other criminal justice stakeholders to expand call diversion and online reporting.

The Salt Lake City Police Department is a transparent law enforcement agency that prides itself on providing our community with information about the services it provides. On the Salt Lake City Police Department’s website, the department provides monthly updates to the cumulative response time.

In October 2022, SLCPD Chief Mike Brown and Mayor Erin Mendenhall released an update to the SLCPD  Crime Control Plan to lower crime, improve response times, fill authorized staffing levels for sworn positions and to continue building community relationships.

The strategies outlined in the Crime Control Plan include expanding recruitment and hiring efforts, developing a violent criminal apprehension team, implementing the Civilian Response Team, expanding the department’s call diversion program and its online reporting capabilities.

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