SALT LAKE CITY — The former head of the agency that disciplines all police officers in Utah is switching roles to represent the group that defends them.
Scott Stephenson, who served as executive director of Utah Peace Officer Standards & Training, has left the agency and now works as executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police in Utah.
Where POST trains, certifies and disciplines all police officers in the state, the FOP has vigorously defended its officers when they are accused of misconduct. But in an interview with FOX 13 News on Monday, Stephenson said the role isn't that different.
"We still have the same goal of keeping good officers in the profession. Unfortunately, officers make some decisions that preclude them from their ability to be in law enforcement," he said. "So there’s a lot of crossover from what I was doing as POST director, legislatively, administratively. There’s a lot of parallels but yeah, there’s some differences."
Stephenson said he was recruited to lead the FOP. He said he has a number of goals, including ongoing training, boosting wages and a focus on wellness resources for officers.
"We really work hard to afford officers the opportunity or avenue to take care of their wellness," Stephenson said. "This job has a lot of stressors. A lot of times we don’t do that maintenance care for our mental health."
Public safety has been listed as a top priority in cities' constituent surveys. In fact, it's the top reason cities are proposing property tax increases (truth-in-taxation hearings are set this month across the state). Stephenson said he supports the increases to ensure law enforcement is adequately staffed to respond to emergencies.
