After Dale Brophy started leading the University of Utah’s police staff in 2013 — first as deputy chief and two years later as chief — much of the department of about 130 officers, security guards and other employees turned over. Roughly 80 employees left; about a third of them were women and most were officers and dispatchers.
As Brophy hired their replacements, he built up the department with former coworkers from West Valley City police and, in one case, his son-in-law. With at least 11 employees from West Valley, the department was nicknamed “West Valley East” or “Little West Valley.