FARMINGTON—The Davis County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue team has one more tool in its belt to get the job done when someone needs help in difficult terrain. The Sheriff’s Office recently purchased a SHERP all-terrain vehicle through a COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) federal grant that has multiple uses to navigate the elements.

“We’ve been seeking something like this for a long time,” said Davis County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Arnold Butcher. “Search and Rescue needs a vehicle that can go through phragmites or to get a stranded hiker. A vehicle that’s also amphibious and all terrain for going into the mountains as well as marshlands.” 

The grant was split between Davis, Tooele and Salt Lake Counties, he said. “We oversee it. Tooele got a vehicle too and Salt Lake County got other equipment for their Search and Rescue.”

Sheriff (Kelly) Sparks worked with Rep. Celeste Maloy on the federal side, said Butcher. “It started with Congressman Chris Stewart when Maloy was working with him and then she continued after she took office. She’s taken a big part of the lift.”

Before they got the vehicle, Butcher said the team had to seek alternatives. “We asked the state park for any machinery to get us close but the equipment was not always accessible. Sometimes they’d have to march deep into the marsh to carry an individual out.”

The vehicle holds nine people, he said. “Eight in the back and the driver up front. The front end opens up with the driver’s seat. It doesn’t steer. It has a lever on each side that runs independent of each other. If you pull one forward and one back you spin around.”

It has huge tires that can inflate or deflate in less than a minute, said Butcher. “They can go soft for water or snow and can be made rigid for other terrains.”

The company will do some initial training, he said. “Then they’ll go back and train everyone else on the operation of it. We barely got the trailer to carry it on but we’re set to go.”

In addition to the SHERP vehicle the Sheriff’s Office purchased a van with the grant, said Butcher. “We’ll get the van into the back county and use it as a mobile command center.”

The SHERP is awesome, he said. “Search and Rescue are all volunteers. They ask for very little. It would cost the county a huge amount of money to conduct ops without the volunteers.”