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Grantsville police expand Victim Advocate staffing, report rising service demand
Summary
Police Chief Robert Sager said the Victim Advocate program served 465 people in 2025 and that the program served 495 people in the first five months of 2026. The department reallocated an officer position to make the advocate full time and added interns to expand services into the Tooele County Justice Court.
At the Grantsville City Council meeting on June 3, Police Chief Robert Sager and program staff updated the council on the Victim Advocate program supported by a VOCA grant. Chief Sager reported the program served 465 individuals and delivered 2,982 services in 2025; during the first five months of 2026 the program had already assisted 495 individuals with 2,148 services, indicating a significant increase in demand.
Because of increased workload staff reallocated an officer position to make Victim Advocate Vanessa Knickerbocker a full‑time employee and made other internal staffing adjustments to improve records management and operational support. Delia Kirk reported that the staffing changes helped reduce burnout and introduced victim advocate interns Sarah and Jenny from Brigham Young University, who have completed background checks and training; an additional intern, Melissa from Utah State University, is expected to join the program in the fall.
Ms. Kirk said the program is expanding advocacy beyond Grantsville by providing support in the Tooele County Justice Court for victims outside Tooele City who lack local access to advocacy services; interns will assist with protective orders, notifications and other rights-preservation work required by state law. Mayor Heidi Hammond thanked Ms. Kirk, Ms. Knickerbocker and the interns for their service to Grantsville and Tooele County.
No council action was required; the report was informational.
