Captain Kyle Ekker to Retire from ECSO

A native of Green River, Kyle started his career at the Emery County Sheriff’s Office in 1986 working as a Patrol Deputy in Green River. He and his family later relocated to Huntington. Kyle began working as a Detective in 1987, was promoted to Administrative Sergeant in 1995, and in 2001 advanced to the position of Captain. Kyle also serves as Jail Commander and as the Emergency Manager for Emery County.

Kyle has never been content to “just do the job.” He is always looking for ways to learn, train and expand his skill set to better serve Emery County and his co-workers. He is one of the few employees in the history of the Emery County Sheriff’s Office to graduate from the prestigious FBI National Academy, which he accomplished at the age of 34.

At ECSO, Captain Ekker has served as the Range Master for many years, being a Certified Firearms Instructor and a Certified Taser Instructor. He has spent countless hours developing and improving the ECSO gun range and planning and conducting firearms training to strengthen the skills of ECSO personnel.

Captain Ekker has been involved in the Detective Division for many years, where he currently serves as Supervisor. He is also the Drug Task Force Commander. Involvement in the Detective Division has offered a wide-range of experience, where he investigated hundreds of cases. His investigations include several high-profile cases, numerous drug and weapons-related cases, and two capital homicide cases. Captain Ekker is also a certified Medical Examiner.

Additionally, Kyle has been a member of the Rope Rescue Team, Dive Team, HazMat Team and Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team.

In Kyle’s duties as Emergency Manager, he has built an exemplary emergency management program. Kyle worked closely with the Incident Management Teams on the Seeley Fire of 2012 and the Trail Mountain Fire of 2018. Since those fires, he has worked tirelessly, obtaining millions of dollars in funding and overseeing major Emergency Watershed Protection projects in Huntington Canyon to protect Huntington Creek and critical infrastructure downstream. He has also spearheaded projects along Cottonwood Creek and the Green River. In 2020, Kyle earned the designation of Utah Certified Emergency Manager.

As Emergency Manager, Kyle is recognized for his ability to plan and carry-out training and exercises, including an annual full-scale exercise with the military and state and local partners. He has built and maintained a great working relationship with private industry and schools throughout Emery County, participating in many planning meetings and exercises to enable first responders to improve their response capabilities, and to educate businesses and schools on how to better protect themselves until help arrives. He especially enjoys working with the schools to help protect children. In both law enforcement and emergency management, Kyle has been a capable Incident Commander, managing resources and personnel during fires, flooding, mine disasters, and numerous search and rescue operations.

ECSO congratulates Captain Kyle Ekker on his successful career and wishes him the best in his well-earned retirement years. A celebration of his career will be held at a later date.