According to Eric McDowell, chief deputy for Eagle Mountain, the approval was a formality due to the new positions being considered county employees. Neither city has a dedicated police force, law enforcement is handled by the UCSO, and the respective city councils already factored additional salaries into their budgets.

The additions were made due to increased growth in Vineyard and Eagle Mountain, said Sgt. Spencer Cannon, UCSO public information officer. If a sufficient officer-to-population ratio is not maintained, the department faces difficulties.

“Your span of control or your ability to supervise those who are there can be challenging, but you also don’t have enough officers to respond adequately to the volume of incidents,” Cannon said.

The national standard for the ratio of officers to population is one officer for every 1,000 residents. However, Cannon said some areas need more or less coverage than others depending on the age of residents and their needs.

McDowell said many cities will change their staffing due to peak times of public calls for service or the type of demand they are receiving from residents. Eagle Mountain, he explained, has difficulty comparing to any national standards. They staff based on a combination of annual statistics for proactive calls, public calls for service and population growth.

“Ready-made, universally applicable patrol staffing standards do not exist. Ratios, such as officers-per-thousand population, are totally inappropriate as a basis for staffing decisions. Defining patrol staffing allocations and deployment requirements is a complex endeavor which requires consideration of an extensive series of factors and a sizable body of reliable, current data,” reads the International Association of Chiefs of Police website.

Before the staffing addition, Eagle Mountain had 26 sworn deputies, which included one lieutenant and three sergeants. Three sergeants oversaw eight officers each with 12-hour shifts split between day and night shifts. The staffing addition means there will almost always be a sergeant on duty.

Having a sergeant on duty, McDowell said, provides more checks and balances for the department, ensures things are done according to policy through state code and ensures officers are held accountable.

“It will hopefully mitigate liability for all parties involved,” McDowell said. “Better supervisory coverage lays that blueprint to accommodate future growth.”

These staffing changes, Cannon explained, provide the police department with enough resources — officers and time — to keep up with present calls for service and to perform proactive enforcement.

“It is proven that proactive enforcement, meaning going out and enforcing moving violations like running stop signs and speeding and things like that, does not only reduce the number of violations, but it also reduces the incidence of crashes,” Cannon said.