RIVERTON, Utah, Dec. 13, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — Riverton City has appointed its police chief, who will form the new department as the city withdraws from its arrangement from the Unified Police Department.
The new chief is Don Hutson, who currently served as the City of Holladay precinct chief of the Unified Police Department. Hutson was confirmed with the unanimous consent of the Riverton City Council.
“We are thrilled to welcome Don Hutson as the new chief of police in Riverton,” Mayor Trent Staggs said in a statement released Thursday.
“He brings with him the experience, skill set, and network needed to set up a thriving police department. I have no doubt he will serve the citizens of our city exceptionally well in this role.”
Prior to becoming a UPD precinct chief in 2015, Hutson served in a variety of roles with the Unified Police Department and Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office. He has worked as a professional standards division commander, a investigations division commander, a media services unit administrator and public information officer.
Hutson also has been a drug enforcement task force officer, narcotics unit detective, gang unit detective, S.W.A.T. Team member, and patrol deputy. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration and finance from Utah State University and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy.
“The opportunity of starting a police department from the ground up is something that I couldn’t pass up,” said Hutson. “I look forward to creating a department that proactively serves the Riverton community, places high value on our officers, and provides the best law enforcement service for our citizens.”
Hutson, who was selected from a pool of nearly 60 candidates, will begin work as chief of police in Riverton shortly after Jan. 1. He will begin putting plans in place for the new police department, expected to take over full law enforcement duties from the UPD in July.
The decision to hire a chief of police came following Riverton City’s final decision to part ways with UPD on Oct. 23. The city had initially provided notice to the UPD Board of Directors that it intended to leave the department in July due to dissatisfaction with the arrangement.
“Now that a chief has been selected, we look forward to getting very aggressive in putting our new department together,” said Staggs. “We invite the best and brightest police officers from around Utah to consider applying for service within the Riverton Police Department when positions become available over the next several months, including those who have provided exceptional service to our community in the past.”
