SPRING CITY, Utah (ABC4) – When you talk about small-town police, it doesn’t get any smaller than one police station in central Utah. There’s no team or a squad, it’s a one-man job, and he works for Utah’s smallest police station, in this edition of Behind the Badge.
Rural Spring City, Utah, is home to just 1,200 people home. It’s protected and served by a single man: Spring City Police Chief Chad Huff.
“Out here the pay is not as good as living in the big cities, you kind of have to want to live out here,” said Huff.
As one of only two places in the state with a single officer on payroll, Huff works for Utah’s smallest police station. Huff joked that every now and then he gets an Andy Griffith-related joke – a play on the actor’s long-time show where he plays a small-town Sheriff.
“Andy Griffith had a part-timer, at least another deputy he counted on,” Huff said with a laugh. I don’t have that too much.”
Whatever call comes in, day or night, Huff is the only one who responds. Huff told ABC4 many of those do come through late at night. If it’s something urgent, he will respond right away. It may be one reason why Huff doesn’t give people his cell phone number, but he said one by one they end up with his personal number anyway.
In the short year-and-a-half he’s been here, Huff’s become quite popular. Spring City residents Paul Bryner and Kristen Mortensen said Huff is a good chief and a friendly guy.
“It’s nice to have somebody here, right in town,” said Mortensen. “We don’t have to worry about part-time he’s over in Manti or part-time he’s over in Ephraim, he’s here and this is where his heart is.”
Huff said much of his day is spent doing paperwork or going on patrols. Spring City hasn’t always had its own dedicated officer. So, in these parts, Chief Huff is a luxury.
Huff said he loves the small-town lifestyle. For a city with more geese than police, they hope Huff will be here for years to come.
“It is nice to wake up and say ‘Hey, nothing is going on today, I’m going to take the day off’,” said Huff. On those days off, Huff likes to go fishing.
If Huff needs help, he can call for backup. Spring City has a deal with surrounding police agencies to send an officer his way if he needs one, and they’re not that far away. Huff said if he needs backup, it can be there in about five to ten minutes.
