Department of Public Safety

Crime in Utah

Data Source: DPS

Why this is important:

All crimes are a tragedy, lives are devastated, loved ones and property are lost. Crimes against persons (homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault) are a central focus of all public safety agencies in Utah. Our Quality of Life is put at risk if we are made to be afraid. Violent attacks on persons and our society take something away from all of us, and deny us the right to feel secure in our homes and community.

What we're doing about it:

The Utah Dept. of Public Safety partners with every public safety agency in Utah to Provide a Safe and Secure Environment for all People in Utah.

• The Utah Dept. of Public Safety (DPS) Police Academy trains police officers for all agencies around the state.
• DPS operates a full service accredited crime laboratory system with five locations around the state to analyze crime scene evidence and provide expert testimony from highly trained DPS Forensic Scientists in Utah 's courts of law.
• The DPS Highway Patrol Division has troopers stationed around the state patrolling all state roads, preventing crime, apprehending criminals and assisting other public safety agencies and the public.
• The State Bureau of Investigation has investigators stationed at state patrol section offices, on criminal task forces statewide, as well as working from their headquarters in the SL Metro area. These troopers and agents investigate a full range of crimes and assist local law enforcement in the apprehension of criminals.
• The DPS Office of the State Fire Marshal investigates arson cases statewide along with assisting all fire agencies, doing fire prevention, inspections and training.
• The DPS Aero Bureau operates a fleet aircraft that patrol and respond to emergencies statewide. The helicopters save lives every year in some of Utah 's most remote locations. A fast response to remote areas of the state is provided day and night in all weather as public safety needs require it.
• The DPS Homeland Security Division (HLS) leads the way by providing a statewide framework to coordinate all local and state planning, prevention response and mitigation efforts in the event of disaster. The HLS public safety intelligence and information fusion center provides up-to-the-minute information for public safety agencies statewide on threats to Utah, its citizens, business and our resources.
• DPS provides many other products and services that both directly and indirectly make Utah a safer place, maintaining the quality of life that makes Utah a great place to live.
• For more information on our other products and services, please visit us on our web pages at www.publicsafety.utah.gov

Motor Vehicle Crash Fatalities

Data Source: DPS

Why this is important:

Every year in Utah and across America, people lose their lives in motor vehicle crashes. This tragic loss of life impacts all of us as friends, family members, coworkers, taxpayers, and Americans. There are human costs, emotional costs, economic costs and the loss of our most valuable resource, our children.

Each year approximately 43,000 Americans are killed on our nation's roads and highways. These “accidents” are a challenge to all of us; a challenge to be better drivers, a challenge to build and maintain better roadways, and a challenge to build safer vehicles. The Utah Department of Public Safety is partnered with the Utah Department of Transportation to make Utah one of the safest places in America to drive.

What we're doing about it:

We have developed programs, laws and partnerships to educate, encourage and enforce the traffic safety laws and safe driving practices. We have targeted seatbelts, child restraints, and child safety seatuse. We enforce Drunk Driving, Aggressive Driving, Excessive Speed, Drowsy Driving and Impeding Traffic Violations. The impressionable minds of our children can be the one place we can have the biggest impact. The education and reinforcement of safety-minded behavior of our children will reap an even safer future for Utah and everyone that travels the highways of our state. The best warning system in a Utah car are the words “Mommy/Daddy please put your seatbelt on.”

 

Observed Seat Belt Usage

Data Source: DPS

Why this is important:

Failure to “buckle up” contributes to more fatalities than any other traffic-safety-related-behavior. Every year in America, the majority of persons that die in motor vehicle crashes fail to wear their seatbelt. Even more tragic is the fact that a simple decision could have prevented this loss of life.

Seatbelts save lives. There is no more simple way to put it.

What we're doing about it:

In Utah, we have a seatbelt law. We enforce it. Utah has 88.6% observed seatbelt usage.

Beyond regular enforcement, the Dept of Public Safety participates in an annual “Click It or Ticket” Campaign. This two-week mobilization encourages all motor vehicle occupants to buckle up through high visibility media and saturation enforcement components. Special emphasis is placed on young drivers to encourage good occupant restraint usage habits early in their driving career.

Preventing the needless death of Utah's youngest citizens is also a top priority for the Dept of Public Safety. DPS trains and certifies people as Child Passenger Safety Technicians. These technicians work on a voluntary basis in their communities statewide to offer proper child safety seat installation assistance and education to local residents.

DUI Arrests

Data Source: DPS

Why this is important:

Drunk and impaired drivers kill people, destroy property and ruin lives.

We all pay in some way for the damage drunk and impaired drivers do. Health care and insurance costs, court time, jail and prison costs, and the cost of ruined and lost lives are all a direct result of drunk and impaired drivers.

What we're doing about it:

Every state in America has created special laws to deal with drunk drivers.

Most states followed the Utah lead and enacted laws to toughen DUI laws, moving from a .10 to a .08 blood alcohol level for defining drunk driving.

Utah also has zero tolerance levels of alcohol for drivers under age 21, and metabolite laws that define illegal substances in your system while driving.

Enforcement of these laws is rigorous by all law enforcement and prosecution agencies: driving privileges are revoked or suspended, jail time and sometimes prison sentences are imposed, treatment programs are offered and ordered by the courts.

Ongoing education and designated driver programs continue to grow an awareness of the issues and responsible behavior. Certainly education and low tolerance are the keys to success, but DPS also is proactive in the area of holding responsible those that serve alcohol to minors and serve drinks to intoxicated persons. This multi-level approach to a completely preventable crime has made Utah 's roadways some of the safest in America .

DUI-Related Crashes

Data Source: DPS

Why this is important:

DUI crashes are a tragedy and are preventable.

What we're doing about it:

Utah was one of the first states to go to a per se 0.08 blood alcohol level and back that up with tough enforcement laws and massive education efforts. If you are under 21 years old there is a zero tolerance level for alcohol in your system to legally drive. Utah has drug laws that define illegal drug use, and a metabolite law to prosecute those that use drugs and drive.

DUI-Related Crash Fatalities

Data Source: DPS

Why this is important:

Impaired driving is a major contributor to motor vehicle crash fatalities. Nationally, 41% of traffic deaths are DUI-related. In Utah, 1 in 5 traffic deaths are DUI-related.

What we're doing about it:

Utah is leading the way in eliminating DUI-related crash fatalities, and continues to have the lowest DUI-related crash rate in the nation. Even though these rates fluctuate from year to year, Utah shows a distinctive downward trend. That means that this problem is getting better, and that Utah's roads are safer.

A comprehensive approach to this problem is working, and the Dept of Public Safety is partnering with UDOT and other public safety agencies in education, awareness campaigns and enforcement efforts.

Remember, in Utah: “Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest.”