The towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., on Thursday hired the police chief who will oversee what’s supposed to be a more secular police force.
Mark Askerlund, who began his career in 1982 at the Salt Lake City Police Department (SLCPD), will head the police force for the two communities, according to a news release from both cities.
The new chief could be one of the biggest changes yet for government in Hildale and Colorado City, collectively known as Short Creek and home to the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
The two municipalities share a police force, referred to as marshals.