West Jordan police holding 'resource fair' for Latinos on driver's licenses, privilege cards

By Tim Vandenack, KSL.com | Posted - July 19, 2024 at 6:45 a.m.

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

WEST JORDAN — The West Jordan Police Department is holding an outreach effort meant to get information to Latinos on getting driver's licenses and driving privilege cards.

The Driver's License Resource Fair set for Saturday, geared more specifically to Spanish speakers, also aims to foster ties between police and the broader community. The event goes from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. and will be held at West Jordan High School, 8136 S. Jaguar Drive.

"Through our daily interactions, we've found there is a need for this fair. We also found if we did this as a fair, it would be a great opportunity for us to have another positive interaction with the community," Sgt. Andrew Hercules said in a message to KSL.com. "We'll have multiple West Jordan police officers at the fair who can answer questions and genuinely make a connection."

Various resource booths will be operating at the event with those on hand offering information on getting driver's licenses, driving privilege cards and even passports. Driving privilege cards are meant for immigrants here without legal permission. A class, in Spanish, will also be offered featuring a West Jordan police officer, a Utah Highway Patrol trooper and Utah's Driver License Division representative.

"This is the first time we've done an event like this and we're excited about the opportunity to build more relationships and provide useful information to members of our community," Hercules said.

Nearly 21% of Salt Lake County residents are Latino as of 2023, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates, though the figures don't break that down to Spanish speakers. Similarly, a language other than English is spoken in around 21% of households in Salt Lake County, Spanish being the most common among them, according to U.S Census Bureau estimates for the 2018-2022 period.