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- New Chief of Police sworn in at Nephi City
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SWEAR IN •Michael H. Morgan, left, was sworn into office on May 1st by Blair Painter, Nephi City Recorder. Morgan replaces Chad Bowles who recently retired as Nephi City Chief.
By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
Michael H. Morgan, the new Nephi City Police Chief was born in 1965 to George and Marjorie Morgan in San Jose, California but has strong Nephi ties.
The Morgan’s made their home in Nephi in 1974. Both of his parents are retired from Central Valley Medical Center and presently live in Nephi.
He has one older Brother, George Morgan III. His brother George works for Nicholas and Co. and has been an assistant coach for the Juab High School football team for 17 years.
After graduating from Juab High School in 1983, Mike and some of his friends attended Dixie College in St. George, Utah.
“In 1984 I ventured out on my own and joined the United States Air Force,” said Morgan. “This is where I began my career in Law Enforcement.”
He served as Security Police in Incirlik, Turkey and at Hill Air Force Base.
In 1988 he received an Honorable Discharge after serving his country for four years.
From 1988-1989 he worked as a Correctional Officer for the Utah Department of Corrections.
“In 1989 I was hired by the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Department where I worked as a Patrol Deputy in Magna, Kearns, Holiday and Taylorsville,” said Morgan.
In 1992 he was transferred into the Detectives Division where he investigated burglary and auto theft cases.
In 1995 he was selected to work with the FBI in a Multi Agency Violent Crimes Task Force. While working with the FBI, he investigated homicide, bank robbery, extortion, kidnapping and major drug cases.
In 1998 he transferred to the Warrant Squad in the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Department.
“While I was there I proposed and initiated a new program combining the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Department and the United States Marshals Service,” he said.
The program is a Multi Agency Fugitive Squad, combining resources to remove the most violent fugitives from Utah communities. This program is named the Joint Criminal Apprehension Team, JCAT, and was adopted by Police Agencies throughout the United States.
In 2000 he was transferred back to the FBI to start a new Multi Agency Task Force known as the Olympic Joint Terrorist Task Force.
“This was a specialized unit to prepare Utah Police Agencies for the fight against possible domestic terrorism during the 2002 Utah Winter Olympics,” said Morgan.
In 2003 he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant and transferred to the Patrol Division in Taylorsville.
He was also a supervisor at the Matheson Court House and in the Protective Services Division.
“For many years I was the Public Information Officer acting as a direct link between Salt Lake County Sheriff Aaron Kennard and the news media,” said Morgan.
Throughout his career he has been involved in many major and dangerous incidents. For two of these incidents he received Medals of Distinction for outstanding courage, leadership and protection of the citizens of Salt Lake County and his fellow Officers.
In 2003 he received the Officer of the Year award for the entire United States. He was nominated for this award by the United States Marshal for the District of Utah. He and his wife Casie traveled to Washington D.C. where he received this distinguished National award.
“I retired from the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Department in 2006,” he said. “For the past two years I have been a Police Officer for Nephi City Police Department.”
During those two years he has been involved with the community volunteering as a Jr. Jazz basketball coach and has assisted his father George with the Sub for Santa program in Nephi.
He is currently a member of the Nephi Lions Club where he helped in the construction of the new Armed Forces Memorial.
Mike and his wife Casie have been married for 20 years. They have three grown daughters Nacole, Malarie and Cassandra and two sons Chris, who is currently serving in the United States Air Force, and Brandon who attends Juab Jr. High School and is busy with sports.
“My main goal as the Chief of Police for Nephi City is to bring the Police Department and the community together, working as a team to fight all types of crime within our community,” he said.
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