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South Jordan has a new police chief.
L. Jeff Carr, deputy Utah public safety commissioner, was sworn in Tuesday night as police chief in Utah's 10th largest city.
Carr, 52, replaces Lindsay Shepherd, who retired after 31 years, including 16 as chief. The city has 50 officers to police a growing population of about 63,000.
"I'm extremely excited about the opportunity to lead a growing and dynamic police force," Carr said in an interview Tuesday. "It's something new and I'm looking forward to the challenge."
This will be Carr's first time working in law enforcement at the municipal level. His career began in 1983, when he was hired as a Salt Lake County sheriff's deputy. From there, he worked his way up to detective, sergeant, lieutenant, captain, chief deputy and undersheriff. In 2007, he began a six-year stint as a major with the state Bureau of Investigation.
He earned a master's degree in public administration at Brigham Young University and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy.
Carr said he's a firm believer in community policing and intends to create a "robust relationship between the community and the police."
"I tried to practice [community policing] when I was a patrol officer. I hope to be able to get out in the community and meet with citizens and business owners about their concerns of the community."
Body cameras have been ordered for South Jordan officers and policies are being written for deployment — an initiative Carr said he supports.
"Body cameras will provide the officers a degree of safety and transparency." Carr said. "I urge caution because it's not going to always give you everything you need or tell you the entire story."
Carr's first day on the job was June 30.
"The employees here have been wonderful," Carr said. "I have received an enormous amount of help."