Wednesday — January 28, 2004

Ketchum chief tucks first year under his belt

---

By PAT MURPHY
Express Staff Writer

Although subtle and even largely unnoticed by most people, gradual changes have been under way in the Ketchum Police Department since longtime Salt Lake City police detective Corey Lyman became its chief a year ago on Feb. 2.

For Lyman, too, this first year in Ketchum has meant change and adapting.

COREY LYMAN, Ketchum police chief  Express photo by Willy Cook

When Lyman, 46, retired from command of the 77-officer Salt Lake City Police Department’s Detective Division with its $5 million-plus budget, he took over a dramatically smaller 24-person Ketchum department with only 10 sworn officers and far smaller current budget of $1.397,134.

Along with workplace shrinkage, the highly recognizable 6-foot-4-inch Lyman also has shed some of the 235 pounds he brought along on his large frame.

In his first year, Lyman seems to have mastered one of his first challenges--to pass the likeability test created by the man he succeeded, the popular Cal Nevland, who retired as chief after 22 years and being a community fixture.

Most often mentioned as Lyman’s standout qualities are his easy-going manner, his accessibility and his immersion in community affairs.

However, fitting into the Ketchum lifestyle was a natural: Utah-born Lyman vacationed with his grandparents in Ketchum as a child. He caught his first fish here as an 11-year-old, and has, by his admission, had a special lifelong affection for the Wood River Valley area.

When he was interviewed for the $85,000-a-year Ketchum chief’s job, Lyman said he was looking for "a welcome change" of lifestyles from the pace and size of Salt Lake City.

In his last months on the Salt Lake City force, Lyman headed up the investigation into the nationally celebrated Elizabeth Small kidnapping. He confesses he doesn’t miss being in the media limelight created by the notorious case.

Some of the changes Lyman has made to the department include:

• Adopting a lighter colored shirt for police officers—a grayish "French blue" that conveys what he calls "more of a softer look" than the traditional dark shirts he describes as "L.A. blue." The softer color, Chief Lyman says, is not as intimidating. Officers also have been issued a colorful Columbia three-season jacket.
  
   
• Peplacing the title of "Code Enforcement Officer" with "Community Service Officer" to reflect what he says is the department’s emphasis on serving the public.
  
   
• Instituting rigorous training for officers in investigating white collar crime as well as also participating in a twice-yearly fraud and embezzlement program with U.S. Bank to train merchants in preventing and detecting commercial crime. Ketchum and other Wood River Valley communities also swap expertise in inter-agency training sessions.
  
   
• Upgrading record-keeping to more accurately track the types of crimes and violations the department investigates.
  
   
• Encouraging officers to leave their patrol cars ands conduct foot patrols in the community to meet the public and increase police presence on the streets. Officers also have been outfitted with earpieces for mobile radios to listen to dispatcher broadcasts without annoying the public.

Still, 90 percent of the department’s activities involve what the chief describes as "calls for service"--from parking issues to helping support the Guy Coles Skateboard Park.

Police work in Ketchum, he said on the eve of his first year anniversary, is more personal. By way of an illustration, he said a Salt Lake city auto theft meant filling out a lot of papers, but in Ketchum, police investigate and try to track down the thief.

The other 10 percent of department work is focusing on reducing embezzlement in businesses, personal security of residents and crime prevention and investigation.

Following 9/11, security is a more common topic, he said. Although he declined to discuss specifics of strategies or plans, Ketchum police as well as other Valley law enforcement agencies are aware that the area’s celebrity residents--entertainment figures as well as business tycoons--represent potential targets of crime.

He said city officials provided whatever the department needs to carry out its mission.

As for personal reflections on the year here, he’s struggling to build a house in Hailey so his wife, a criminal justice services counselor in Salt Lake City, can move here. He also has three daughters--ages 23, 19, and 17. A son died in a 1998 auto accident.

He said he’s also found time to resume cross-country skiing and hopes to return to downhill skiing.

 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.