Prevention and enforcement: Salt Lake County Sheriff touts successes in curbing gang activity

SALT LAKE CITY — The Salt Lake Area Gang Project made hundreds of arrests, removed thousands of instances of graffiti, and took a significant amount of drugs off the streets in 2025.

The Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office touted their successes in gang enforcement during the 36th annual Utah Gang Conference July 7 and July 8 at the Utah Cultural Celebration Center in West Valley City. But they also highlighted their office’s efforts to prevent young people from joining gangs.

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The sheriff’s office said the Salt Lake Area Gang Project, a multi-agency partnership they direct, conducted 404 gang investigations in 2025, leading to 369 arrests. Officials also reported the removal of graffiti from 2,352 locations and a significant quantity of drugs taken off the streets.

Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera said their work was not limited to enforcement.

“We want people to not join gangs. We want to prevent that, but if they do, we want to help them get out of gangs as well,” Rivera said.

Salt Lake County officials have been focused on intervention and prevention through programs such as graffiti removal, tattoo removal and Choose Gang Free, a school-based prevention program, Rivera said.

Choose Gang Free received 255 referrals for intervention last year, and 554 young people graduated from the prevention program, according to the sheriff’s office.

Rivera said the program had expanded in recent years with help from Salt Lake County Council funding. She said advocates now work with schools countywide to identify students who may be involved in gangs or at risk of joining one.

“That’s the biggest piece because we’re reaching youth before they go into gangs,” Rivera said.

Across the country, law enforcement agencies have reported changes in gang activity. They use social media to recruit according to the FBI, and continue to move into suburban areas of the United States. But the core issues, Rivera said, remain the same.

“The players change, but the game doesn’t,” Rivera said. “The game is still guns and drugs and violent crime.”

She said officials were especially concerned about the increase in younger people becoming involved in gangs.

“The trend that we’ve seen in the last couple of years is that the youth are younger, joining gangs, and they’re also involved in more violent crime,” Rivera said.

She said the annual conference allowed people working in gang enforcement, prevention and intervention to share information and learn from one another.

“We can’t do this alone,” Rivera said. “We need everybody’s help in making a difference and reducing the amount of gang violence we have in Salt Lake County.”