Bountiful police chief outlines staffing, crime trends and prevention tips

Chief Ed Beeler told Mayor Kendalyn Harris that the Bountiful Police Department has 38 sworn officers and operates a dispatch center that serves five agencies, including South Davis Metro Fire. “We have 38 sworn officers that work here,” Beeler said, adding the dispatch center handled about 78,000 calls on administrative lines and 24,009 911 calls last year.

Beeler described the department’s records unit as handling police reports, GRAMA requests and expungements, and said the department assigns full-time officers to two high schools and part-time officers to junior high and elementary schools. The department also runs a crossing guard program, assigns an officer to the Davis Metro Narcotic Strike Force, maintains a motorcycle traffic unit and participates with the South Davis Metro SWAT team.

On traffic enforcement, Beeler said the department prioritizes where enforcement is deployed rather than the raw number of tickets. “We're much more interested in the quality of our tickets as opposed to the quantity,” he said, adding officers concentrate enforcement in areas with higher numbers of accidents or where neighbors report speeding.

Beeler said major violent crimes — including homicide, robbery, burglary, vehicle theft and larceny — have remained flat in recent years. “We haven't seen an increase in crime in Bountiful for several years in those major offenses,” he said. He identified thefts and fraud as the department's top areas for improvement, particularly vehicle burglaries and scams that ask residents to pay immediately via gift cards or other untraceable methods.

To reduce theft, Beeler urged residents to lock homes and vehicles and to avoid leaving valuables in unattended cars. He said growing use of home security cameras and doorbell cameras often helps investigations by providing footage of suspects checking doors and moving on when a residence is secured. On fraud, Beeler warned against offers that are "too good to be true" and described a common scam in which callers impersonate a utility and demand immediate payment via gift cards. “That is again, that's just not a legitimate thing that any utility company would take payment for,” he said.

Mayor Kendalyn Harris thanked Beeler and the department for their service and reminded residents that in emergencies they should call 911.

Discussion-only items in this briefing included descriptions of department programs, staffing and service volumes and prevention guidance for residents. No formal motions or votes were recorded during the exchange.