ST. GEORGE — The once federally court-defined corrupt police force is finding itself coming out of the shadows of the past into the light of modern policing, winning awards for its transition into the future.

“Honestly we don’t go in the past,” Colorado City – Hildale City Police Department Chief Robb Radley said during an interview with St. George News. “We are just moving forward.”

He said they recognize the past circumstances of the two communities that were under the control of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and their leader Warren Jeffs.

Jeffs is currently in the Louis C. Powledge Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice near Palestine, Texas, after being convicted of sexually assaulting underage girls. The earliest parole eligibility date for Jeffs is July 22, 2038.

Today in the communities commonly referred to by locals as Short Creek, Radley said their main focus is to move forward.

“It’s like being in your car, you don’t look in the rearview mirror when trying to go forward,” Radley said

He added you pay respect to the past for the lessons learned, trying hard to not repeat history.

Key events

June 2012: The Department of Justice sued communities of Hildale and Colorado City accusing them of police misconduct and housing discrimination against non-members of the FLDS and former members excommunicated from the community.

July 2012: Mohave County Sheriff’s Office starts patrolling Colorado City after receiving a $420,000 county grant.

March 2015: Former Chief Marshal Helaman Barlow reveals police were under the rule of the FLDS church and worked hand-in-hand with the “God Squad.”

October 2016: Federal authorities asked for the court to grant a request for the disbandment of the Colorado City Marshal’s Office.

April 2017: Federal court in Phoenix, Ariz. ruled in favor of the Department of Justice, citing decades of police misconduct and discrimination.

The court ordered 10-year supervision and mandated the revision of the policies of the Marshal’s Office. It also required the hiring of both a police consultant and a mentor for the Chief of Police.

May 2018: Former Salt Lake City Police Lt. Mark Askerlund, 63, was appointed as chief and consultant. Replaced Chief Jerry Darger in Feb.

August 2018: Hildale drops out of the appeal lawsuit as Mayor Donia Jessop says, “We don’t have a church here that rules over us, and I don’t see that ever happening again.”

August 2019: Robb Radley is sworn in as Chief Marshal for Colorado City Marshal’s Office. Askerlund resumes the consultant role for an additional 6 months.

August 2019: Federal appeals court upholds the federal ruling against Colorado City.

August 2021: Colorado City reports nobody on the police force has no ties to FLDS. City asks for the removal of the police consultant.

August 2021: Federal judge rejected Colorado City’s request for less police oversight.

April 2023: Colorado City Marshal’s Office was rebranded to be Colorado City – Hildale City Police Department.

Award-winning agency

The Police Department under Chief Robb Radley has won multiple awards involving the implementation of modern policing.

Two were awarded to the department as a whole by Lexipol, a national policy organization. These “Bronze” awards were for excellence in law enforcement policy management for 2021 and 2022.

The third award was an individual award to Radley. The honor was awarded by the Utah Council on Victims of Crime on April 27. This award was for the positive integration and changes to services for victims of crime.

“It’s very much a team thing because it’s not an individual accomplishment,” Radley said.

However, both local mayors, Colorado City Mayor Howard Ream and Hildale City Mayor Donia Jessop, had nothing but praise for the police chief.

“He really was the right man for the job,” Ream said.

Picking up pieces

In the past, Radley believes a real distrust of the police was present, but by the end of 2019, things changed positively.

“The Department of Justice really took steps to work with the police department at that time,” Radley said.

Firstly, he needed to bring in officers from outside the community. He brought in two officers with over 57 years of experience together.

Former Iron County Sheriff Mark Gower and former Price police officer David Wilkinson were brought out of retirement.

“Those were wise decisions that were made early on to bring in people to guide the police department and set it on the right path,” Radley said.

The number of marshals ranged from three to eight in the past. Presently, Radley said they have 10 officers. They offer services never offered before including school resource officers. Though most officers are not local, he does have a couple who grew up in the area.

Lifting the veil

“One of the greatest challenges has been the change from what people experienced in the past from their police department to what we consider modern-day policing,” Radley said. “The changes were really, really significant.”

One of the first things to ensure transparency was upgrading the report writing system. They started using the same system used by all Mohave and Washington County agencies. Radley said this allows other agencies to review their processes.

Building trust with the community was another challenge. He said it was almost non-evident and a definitive challenge when they first started the journey.

“I think overall, they really have overcome that (distrust of police) because simply by us being fair in our policing and not being biased … and it’s no longer a matter of are you related to anyone or specifically part of any group,” he said.

Radley said favoritism and bias are a thing of the past. He said those still practicing the FLDS faith in the community still call for service. Both Mohave County and Washington County Sheriff’s Offices are available to assist and can enforce within the Short Creek area.

He said transparency is present because of the relationships with other agencies. A lot of these relationships were brought in with officers like Gower and Wilkinson.

Being compliant

“As we work together on new things and being compliant, both states know we are being compliant because we are completing the training and taking all of those steps needed. Everyone can look at it and agree that we are on the right path and doing the right things,” Radley said.

The agency is now working on receiving full accreditation from both states. The accreditation process can take several years, but he says his goal is to finish the process within the next nine months. The department is still currently under a court-appointed monitor.

He said as an accreditation requirement, they needed a bigger facility for the department. So they moved from the downstairs of the town hall to their current facility at 50 N. Colvin St. The old location was 1,000 square feet. They now have a facility with several offices, an interrogation room, an interview room, a gym and a new evidence room.

Besides facilities upgrades, they also upgraded technological equipment, rescue apparatus and vehicles to be able to offer more services to the community. Radley also supervises the school resource officers present within the schools and at events, who must complete state-mandated training as well.

Even though there is no liaison officer, they still are able to keep communication open with other agencies.

“We are not so large we need to assign a particular person for a liaison position,” Radley said. “We get to still have that small town type of thing where we still have communication across the board.”

Because of the relationships, they sometimes rely on other professional resources, such as Washington County Search and Rescue.

Radley said they rely more on those specialists for helping with missing tourists and the influx of visitors, leaving those situations to the experts with the specific skillset and tools.

“That really is something that is a specialty on the county,” Radley said. “They are really well trained and that is something that is turned over immediately to them when it is needed.”

Current challenges

“Having a community with new quick growth always has the challenges come in of the diversity that comes with it. We see other things increase, but we have been blessed with serious crimes being very minor and hardly seeing any graffiti and theft,” Radley said.

Some of the crimes on the rise, such as drugs and domestic violence, seem to remain consistent.

“We are going to try our best, in the future, to hold these crimes at bay as best as we can,” he said.

Speeding and traffic violations are an issue all the time. The quick growth in both residents and tourists has provided new challenges, but the feedback has been really positive of how the department has performed.

The biggest problem area for traffic violations is state Route 59/Arizona state Route 389, which runs right through the middle of town.

Radley said they really work on better traffic flow for events and always make that conservative effort to work hard behind the scenes to ensure safety. He wants the public to know his department is staying up-to-date and compliant with the law.

“We are not perfect but we are doing our best and we do work really hard in their favor,” Radley said. “We will continue to try and provide high-quality services for them and services they can depend on.”

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