Sheriff Dave Edmunds by last week’s Summit County Republican Party convention had already impressed Park City’s top lawman.
Wade Carpenter, the police chief in Park City since the middle of 2008, had seen how the two-term sheriff had partnered the Summit County Sheriff’s Office with the Park City Police Department to keep big events safe and how the systems of the two agencies had been coordinated.
During the recent local GOP convention, it was Carpenter who nominated Edmunds as the Republican candidate for sheriff, delivering kind remarks about the incumbent as he urged delegates to vote for Edmunds.
The sheriff, once a Park City police officer, cleared the convention with enough votes to avoid what could have been a testy primary against Kris Hendricksen, a former deputy under Edmunds. The sheriff faces Democrat Dax Shane, a veteran of the Salt Lake City Police Department, on Election Day in November.
Although Carpenter and Edmunds say there is a solid relationship between the two agencies — by far the two largest in the county — it was not known whether the police chief would publicly take a side in the sheriff’s campaign, which is shaping up as one of the most hotly contested decision on the ballot in November.
“This was my opinion of his service as sheriff,” said Carpenter, himself a delegate at the convention, describing the Sheriff’s Office-Police Department relationship as “very positive.”
But Carpenter’s endorsement of Edmunds has raised questions privately in law enforcement circles about his involvement in the campaign, with people wondering whether it is appropriate for the police chief to publicly take a side and what the effects a victory by Shane would have on the relationship between the Police Department and the Sheriff’s Office.
The Police Department and the Sheriff’s Office are frequent partners, patrolling the Park City entryways and controlling crowds on Main Street. The Sheriff’s Office, meanwhile, once donated a retired mobile command center to the Police Department to use during special events and major police operations.
Carpenter said in an interview he researched municipal policies regulating political activism and consulted City Hall attorneys prior to his nominating speech at the convention. He said he felt comfortable supporting Edmunds in a public setting after reading the policies and talking to the attorneys. He said he does not have personal gain at stake in the sheriff’s campaign, freeing him to endorse the incumbent.
The police chief said he was speaking for himself during the convention and was not representing the Police Department. Carpenter did not wear his uniform during the convention.
The sheriff said in an interview he asked Carpenter about a month ago to deliver the nominating speech. Edmunds said there is a “mutual respect” between the two lawmen and Carpenter was the “perfect person to nominate me at the convention.”
“We’ve grown very close since he’s been chief of police,” Edmunds said.
Shane, who grew up in Park City, did not immediately respond to the police chief’s backing of Edmunds. Shane, though, said it is important for the sheriff to have “a good working relationship with the municipal police departments.” Park City and Kamas are the only two cities in Summit County that have their own police forces. The rest of the municipalities rely on the Sheriff’s Office for protection.
Bob Lucking, the president of the Park City lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police and a Police Department sergeant, said Carpenter’s public backing of Edmunds does not pose problems. The lodge, though, traditionally does not pick a side in sheriff’s campaigns and does not intend to this year, Lucking said.
“An individual has the right to endorse anyone he wants,” Lucking said.