Wasatch Constables are coming to South Ogden - City Council Meeting 2-15-2011

Last night's city council meeting was one of the fastest meetings I have attended in a long time.  At the same time it was full of interesting nuggets.  I have decided to break last nights meeting into a few posts.  This first one will be regarding a new contract signed by South Ogden City with Wasatch Constables.

When South Ogden City Police issues a citation in our city and you fail to pay it, no one comes to your door asking for the money.  Often this money goes down as potentially lost revenue to the city.  In 2010 alone the city has missed out on potentially $500,000 in warrants that have gone unpaid.  This is where Wasatch Constables comes in.

Wasatch Constables is a fully empowered peace officer who has been given "Special Functions" as an officer.  They are not tasked with everyday police work but instead provides services such as process serving, bailiff duties, transport prisoners, seize property, enforce writs and effects service of arrest warrants.  South Ogden has entered into a contract with them to help enforce these warrants and help collect the more than $500,000 in uncollected revenue.  They will either collect the money or take the offender to jail.

Tony Alarid, Chief Deputy for Wasatch Constables, spoke with me about the services they provide and what this meant for the city.

"The numbers are there, this will be a success for South Ogden,"  Mr. Alarid said, "We serve Riverdale and Ogden and have seen lots of success.  Most people thought we weren't serious when we started.  They didn't think we would really knock on doors.  But once we started, people started coming in voluntarily to pay their fines.  People's parents even started coming for them to pay.  They didn't want their kids to get arrested. You are going to see these same results in South Ogden."

As you can see this is a WIN-WIN for South Ogden.  Wasatch Constables only gets paid when they collect a fine or make an arrest.  Their goal is to prioritize our list of offenders and go after of them, hitting repeat offenders first.  They can take payment on the spot or take you to jail.  Heck they can even take credit cards.  If you can't be found they can even do Skip Traces for those who have tried to hide.

Since these constables go through all the same training and certifications as the police, and fully insured and bonded, I don't see how we can lose with this.

All I can say is beware to criminals and those who have an unpaid warrants.  Wasatch Constables are coming for you.