Transmittal - 9/8/2021rachel otto (Aug 20, 2021 15:20 MDT)
08/20/2021
Phase One Report
June 2021
Prepared by:
The Langdon Group
with subconsultants
The Gemini Group and Kearns & West
i PHASE ONE REPORT June 2021
Contents
From the Core Commissioners ................................................................................................................ 1
Members of the Commission ................................................................................................................... 2
Core Commissioners .............................................................................................................................. 2
Commissioners ....................................................................................................................................... 2
Commission Staff and Liaisons ............................................................................................................ 2
Salt Lake City Policy Department ......................................................................................................... 2
Library Staff, Tech Support ................................................................................................................... 2
Purpose Statement of the Salt Lake City Racial Equity in Policing Commission ............................... 3
Organizational Methodology .................................................................................................................... 3
Consultants ............................................................................................................................................. 3
Early Work of the Facilitation Team ..................................................................................................... 3
Subcommittees ....................................................................................................................................... 4
Community Voice and Communication .................................................................................................. 7
Website .................................................................................................................................................... 7
Community Listening Sessions and Overall Approach ..................................................................... 7
Challenges ................................................................................................................................................. 10
The Online Environment ..................................................................................................................... 10
Time ........................................................................................................................................................ 11
Open Meeting Requirements ............................................................................................................. 11
Experience ............................................................................................................................................. 11
Volume of Material to Review ............................................................................................................. 11
Late Addition of Facilitators ................................................................................................................ 11
Role of SLCPD ........................................................................................................................................ 12
Overall Recommendations...................................................................................................................... 12
FTO PROGRAM RECOMMENDATION ................................................................................................. 13
CIT PROGRAM RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................................ 14
TRAINING ACADEMY AND IN-SERVICE TRAINING RECOMMENDATIONS ..................................... 15
RECRUITING RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................................... 15
ii PHASE ONE REPORT June 2021
INTERVIEW PROCESS RECOMMENDATIONS ..................................................................................... 16
CANDIDATE SELECTION RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................ 16
POLICY AND PRACTICES RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................... 21
Continuing Opportunities ....................................................................................................................... 28
Appendices
Appendix 1 Small group listening sessions (Part I)
a. SLCPD Officers
b. SLCPD Chiefs
c. School Resource Officers
d. Utahns with Traumatic Brain Injuries/Intellectual Disabilities
Appendix 2 Public Listening Session I (January 28)
a. Polls/text comments
b. Comments/themes FAQ
Appendix 3 Public Listening Session II (May 19)
a. Polls/text comments
b. Graphs
c. Comments
Appendix 4 Small Group Listening Sessions (Part II)
a. Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
b. LGBTQ
c. African-American/Black Community Groups
d. Utah Black Chamber of Commerce
e. Latinx and Hispanic Groups
f. Native American and Indigenous
Appendix 5 Social Pinpoint Comments/Data
a. Survey data
b. Forum Comments
Appendix 6 Text Message Survey Comments/Data
a. Polls
b. Comments
1 PHASE ONE REPORT June 2021
From the Core Commissioners
The Core Commissioners, on behalf of the Salt Lake City Racial Equity in Policing
Commission Commissioners, wish to acknowledge and offer our gratitude to all of the
Commissioners for their tireless work to make Salt Lake City a better place for their
communities. Their engagement, strength, voice, and willingness to “speak truth to power”
have allowed the Commission to take advantage of its unique opportunity to improve or
change the culture of policing in Salt Lake City.
This Commission’s work is to address structural and institutional issues within SLCPD that
can and do create detrimental outcomes for Communities of Color. Our work is not to
allege or suggest that any one officer is desiring to harm our communities. Our focus is on
addressing programs, policies, and practices that may be creating or maintaining harm to
Communities of Color, or to offer recommendations that may improve police interactions
and engagement with our communities.
We wish to thank Mayor Erin Mendenhall, and members of the City Council for the
important and necessary opportunity that recognizes the need to improve the outcomes
for Communities of Color in their everyday engagement with police officers. The
Commission deeply appreciates the engagement of Chief Mike Brown, his command staff,
and the officers and staff of the Salt Lake City Police Department (SLCPD) and their
responsiveness to the many requests for information and personal engagement. Further,
this work would not have been as efficient or effective without the excellent support of city
staff, specifically Mayoral and City Council staff, who have been the behind-the-scenes
support to ensure the administration of the Commission’s work is as efficient and effective
as possible.
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Members of the Commission
Core Commissioners
Moisés Prospero
Rev. France Davis
Nicole Salazar-Hall
Darlene McDonald
Verona Sagato Mauga
Kamaal Ahmad
Commissioners
Aaran Afalava
Abdullah Mberwa
Aden Batar
Alaimaluloa Tokotaha
Anapesi Ka’ili
Carol Shifflett
Davina Smith
Desange Kuenihira
Dhati Oommen
Ephraim Kum
Lazayda Afameta
Luna Banuri
Mahider Tadesse
Mariana Suarez
MJ Powell
Olosaa Solovi Jr.
Rogelio Romero
Samantha Eldrige
Steve Anjewierden
Steven Johnson
Tanya Hawkins
Tiffany Flores
Commission Staff and Liaisons
Kaletta Lynch Chief Equity Officer
David Litvack Former Senior Policy Advisor
Cindy Lou Trishman City Recorder
Lauren Shafer Assistant City Recorder
Lindsey Nikola Director of Communication
Jennifer Bruno Deputy Director, City Council
Office
Lehua Weaver Associate Deputy Director, City
Council Office
Allison Rowland Budget and Policy Analyst,
City Council Office
Kira Luke Policy Analyst/Public Engagement,
City Council Office
Weston Clark Director of Community
Outreach
Jessi Eagan Executive Assistant to the Chief
Equity Officer & Director of Community
Outreach
Sven Karabegovic Mayor’s Office Intern
Hailey Keller Mayor’s Office Intern
Hassan Abdi City Council Intern
Salt Lake City Policy Department
Laura Nygaard Executive Assistant to the
Chief of Police
Officer Robert Norgaard
Officer Jose Munoz
Officer Ricardo Franco
Officer Mason Givens
Officer Nathan Groves
Officer Brendyn Scott
Library Staff, Tech Support
Aleko Campos Audio-Visual Specialist
Patrick Hutchings Event Associate
Elizabeth King Events Services Manager
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Purpose Statement of the Salt Lake City Racial
Equity in Policing Commission
The Salt Lake City Racial Equity in Policing Commission (Commission) is made up of clergy,
lay leaders, and community members with a wide array of professional and life-experience
relevant to the topic area who have engaged in dozens of meetings, and research actions,
to identify solutions to ensure community safety and a stronger relationship specifically
between Communities of Color and the Salt Lake City Police Department. The
Commission’s work is to examine the current policies, programs, culture, and budget of the
Salt Lake City Police Department (SLCPD). The Commission is dedicated to making
recommendations for meaningful and sustainable change.
Organizational Methodology
The Commission was empaneled in August 2020. Core Commissioners were selected by
the Mayor and City Council to assist and support the essence of the work and be a liaison
to the Mayor’s Office and City Council as needed. These Core Commissioners also were
subsequently involved in the selection of the remaining Commissioners. The focus was on
finding passionate, skilled, and engaged individuals that best represent Salt Lake City’s
Communities of Color.
Consultants
The Langdon Group, (TLG) a Salt Lake City consulting firm, was awarded the contract in
September 2020 to be the facilitators for the Commission. Siobhan Locke and Joshua King,
Esq., represented TLG. Kearns West, a Dallas, TX based firm represented by Dr. Larry
Schooler, and The Gemini Group, a Denver based firm represented by Dante J. James, Esq.,
were subconsultants to support the work. All references to TLG include the work of the
subconsultants.
Early Work of the Facilitation Team
Initial interviews of all Commissioners were conducted by TLG at the beginning of its
engagement in order to develop an understanding of what the Commission had already
decided on as its focus and to better ensure that the facilitators entered the already
established Commission in a way that served to support the work already underway
instead of disrupting it. Further, these interviews sought to find the elements of the
4 PHASE ONE REPORT June 2021
Commission structure that were working well and those that were proving less successful
at the outset of the work. One of the key findings of these discussions was that the full
commission was operating using Roberts Rules of Order which, while a great structure in
some cases, was not a great model for this group. The Commission moved to a consensus
model for decision-making. This has proven to be an efficient and effective model for the
group. The facilitators further suggested moving into a full commission and subcommittee
structure to provide for deeper engagement with the decided-upon focus areas – listed
below:
Subcommittees
The following four subcommittees were empaneled to better focus the work of the
Commission. Commissioners were invited to join a subcommittee, making sure that no
subcommittee made up a quorum of Commissioners. The subcommittees each developed
recommendations within their areas of focus, and these were brought back to the full
Commission for review and approval. Once approved, the recommendations were
presented to the Mayor and City Council. This allowed city leadership to begin to address
issues and recommendations in real time, as opposed to wait until all work had been
completed by the Commission and submitted in a final Phase One Report.
Policies and Practices Subcommittee
Facilitated by Josh King
◼ The recommendations of the Policies and Practices Subcommittee were
developed over a period of several months. The Subcommittee’s primary
objective was to make informed decisions in developing recommendations
that could address community issues at the root. The subcommittee sought
to develop recommendations that are feasible, viable, and sustainable. To
meet these objectives, the Subcommittee engaged in significant
collaboration and dialogue with community partners, the Salt Lake City Police
Department, and Salt Lake City staff. The subcommittee also conducted
research of national best practices and collaborated with experts around the
country.
◼ The Subcommittee submitted five (5) recommendations to the full
Commission. The Commission supported all five (5) recommendations, which
were then presented to the City Council.
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School Safety Subcommittee
Facilitated by Siobhan Locke
This group of dedicated Commission members worked diligently to understand all
perspectives in the school safety conversation before proceeding to make any
recommendations. The subcommittee conducted one-on-one interviews, attended
meetings and had guest speakers come into their meetings from all of the following
categories and is still working to have additional conversations beyond even these:
◼ Salt Lake City School Board
◼ Sat Lake City School District (SLCSD) Interim Superintendent
◼ Students who have interacted with School Resource Officers (youth
subcommittee, more to come in phase 2)
◼ Data analysts at SLCPD and SLCSD
◼ School Resource Officers (SROs)
◼ Administrators
◼ Oversite Committee for the SRO program
◼ A number of groups that are bringing “wraparound services” in for students,
especially to support students of color.
In addition to these interviews, the subcommittee conducted literature revie ws and
referred to several documents in exploring this subject. Including:
◼ The Memorandum of Understanding between SLCPD, SLC and SLCSD
◼ Voices of Utah Children Report
◼ Data provided by the SLCPD on citations given by SROs
Training Subcommittee
Facilitated by Dante J. James
The recommendations of the Training Subcommittee were based upon a vast
amount of information and data presented to the Training Subcommittee by SLCPD,
as well as information obtained and considered on its own. A foundational
document for the subcommittee’s work was the President’s Report on 21st Century
Policing, dated May 2015. Examples of data and information reviewed are:
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◼ President’s Report on 21st Century Policing, May 2015, specifically Pillar 5:
Training and Education
◼ Curricula from the SLCPD Training Academy, Course of Instruction – 2020-
2021
◼ Curricula from the CIT Academy, Session #10 September 17-20
◼ Demographic data
Crisis Intervention Team
Field Training Officer Program
Overall SLCPD employees
◼ Budget Development Report by Cost Center and Object Code
◼ Subcommittee discussions with Captain S. Mourtgos, Head of SLCPD Training
Division, and memo to the subcommittee dated December 11, 2020
◼ Subcommittee discussions with Sgt. Scott Stuck and Director Jessica Watters
of the Crisis Intervention Team
◼ Numerous discussions with, and feedback provided by, Chief Mike Brown,
Asst. Chief Tim Doubt, and Lt. Yvette Zayas, and other members of SLCPD
Youth Subcommittee
Self-facilitated by youth members of the Commission.
The Youth Commission was representative of both high school and college youth.
The youth Commissioners met on a regular basis and held the same decision-
making authority as any Commissioner.
Police Engagement
Led by Chief Michael Brown, SLCPD was initially represented by Command Staff
and the Chief’s Executive Officer. There were initially no patrol officers engaged
with the Commission. At the urging of the facilitators, patrol officers were added
to the work of the subcommittees to ensure that the voices of the officers who
would or could be most impacted by the Commission’s work would be heard.
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Community Voice and Communication
Website
Created by Larry Schooler and The Langdon Group Staff
Community Listening Sessions and Overall Approach
Designed and led by Dr. Larry Schooler
◼ Listening Sessions – Citywide
◼ Listening Sessions – Targeted Communities
In any project that affects the public, those charged with making recommendations
or decisions are expected to seek the input of those affected by those
recommendations and decisions. In the case of the Racial Equity in Policing
Commission, the significance of community input cannot be understated. Indeed,
the Commission itself is primarily comprised of community leaders who were (and
are) steeped in the communities they represent. That said, the Commission
championed a multilateral, multi-step community engagement process that ensured
their work would reflect the will of the community and many of its “sub-
communities”—including communities of color, residents with traumatic brain
injuries and disabilities, and the law enforcement community.
The Commission hosted private and public listening sessions that enabled a wide
array of stakeholders to provide input at the beginning, middle, and end of the
initial phase of the Commission’s work. Private listening sessions involved officers in
the Salt Lake City Police Department and (separately) the Chief of Police and
Deputy/Assistant chiefs; School Resource Officers; leaders in the Black, Latinx, and
Middle Eastern communities; leaders in the LGBTQ+ community; and members of
the community who have dealt with mental illness, traumatic brain injuries, and/or
disabilities. The Commission also hosted two public listening sessions that were
televised live on SLCTV; simulcast in English and Spanish initially and then in Arabic
and Mandarin as well during the second broadcast; and available for comments via
phone, text message, and online posting. More than 1,500 residents participated in
these public sessions. The Commission also hosted resources for the public to use
for engagement at their own convenience, namely a comment line (phone), a text
message-based survey, and an online portal (slcrepcommission.com).
8 PHASE ONE REPORT June 2021
The complete records of all listening sessions and asynchronous resources (phone
line, text message survey, and online portal) are available as an appendix to this
report, but the following points summarize the findings:
The Commission and the Salt Lake City Police Department worked
extensively to understand each other’s perspectives better (see below report
on private listening sessions).
Members of the Salt Lake City community are hoping to see changes to the
relationship between SLCPD and schools, with a renegotiation of an existing
Memorandum of Understanding between the School District and Police
Department for School Resource Officers.
The community hopes for better training across the department to ensure
officers understand how to respond to people from all communities,
whether they be communities of color, immigrant and refugee populations,
and those dealing with mental illness or other crises, particular around de-
escalation.
The community wants to see the Department conduct its work consistently
across Salt Lake City and with independent monitoring, for response time,
body camera usage, treatment during stops, and other aspects of procedural
justice in recruiting for new officers, the community wants to ensure
potential recruits are evaluated for red-flag behaviors, such as support for or
involvement in extremist groups, a history of violent behavior, and so on.
The community wants SLCPD to improve its citizens academy and other
community educational programs, with an eye towards eliminating
stereotypes.
◼ Police Specific Listening Sessions
Separately, the Commission conducted four private listening sessions with SLCPD in
the late spring of 2021. After working for months on the details of how to revise
SLCPD policies and other issues on the transactional side of policing, it became clear
to all parties that some work was needed to address the relational side of the
conversation. Different perspectives and experiences and even wording emphasized
the need for a less formal conversation to address these differences. To that end,
the Commission’s facilitators convened a total of four conversations over two
evenings with members of the Racial Equity in Policing Commission and personnel
9 PHASE ONE REPORT June 2021
from the Salt Lake City Police Department. Facilitators conducted the meetings
without live broadcast or recording to maximize the potential for participants to
share their perspectives with complete candor. Approximately ten members of the
Police Department and a dozen Commissioners participated across the sessions.
While the personal details shared within these conversations will be kept
anonymous, a few key takeaways from the conversations are shared here from the
perspective of the facilitators:
▪ The conversations heavily focused on helping both Commissioners and
officers understand one another better. Commissioners used their own lived
experiences, as well as those of their family, friends, and communities, to
explain why they have felt fear, anger, frustration, and confusion in some
interactions with the SLCPD. Several Commissioners also commended
officers for their service and, in some cases, their performance in specific
incidents.
▪ For their part, Police Department attendees shared their own experiences
both with encountering other officers and with encountering civilians.
Participating SLCPD personnel (particularly those from communities of color)
shared their experiences being stopped by other officers, in part to connect
with some of the stories shared by Commissioners. They also spoke of their
pride in their work and in the calls they field that go well, which often go
unnoticed by the public, along with a desire for more of the public to
understand the complexities of each stop, interrogation, or arrest.
▪ In both sessions, participants from SLCPD questioned why Commissioners
feared SLCPD or worried about riding along with SLCPD officers.
Commissioners offered numerous examples where they themselves, or their
loved ones, had traumatic encounters with SLCPD and/or other police
departments, experiences that greatly impact their feelings towards SLCPD
today. While SLCPD participants sought to reassure Commissioners that the
public could easily engage with officers in healthy, productive ways,
Commissioners frequently suggested that SLCPD itself should do more
proactive outreach to the community to help assuage fears.
▪ By the end of the sessions, participants seemed to possess a deeper
understanding of how each other approaches encounters between police
and civilians, as well as the significance of reducing or eliminating the fear
10 PHASE ONE REPORT June 2021
many communities of color feel when an officer approaches them. Some
participants also expressed interest in sharing reading and viewing
recommendations to understand the lens through which they view policing.
They also expressed interest in finding ways to continue with this type of
conversation as the Commission’s work continues, acknowledging that this is
as important a part of the work as the policy changes will be.
▪ Additionally, the participants all seemed aware that changes in the culture of
policing matter as much or more as changes in the policies, procedures,
training, and school safety protocols of police. Finally, the participants all
seemed to acknowledge that they may continue to view concepts of public
safety differently but will still commit themselves to making policing work for
those in law enforcement and those in the Salt Lake City community.
Challenges
The Online Environment
As a Commission, working in an environment of COVID 19, being completely in an online
environment, initially created challenges. Many of the Commissioners did not know each
other. The opportunities to bond, develop trust, develop relationships individually and
collectively, were difficult. It took months for the Commission to find its comfort level of
interaction; being able to question each other, being able to find laughter in the difficult
conversations, being able to comfortably engage with officers on a Zoom call, are examples
of some of the challenges of the online environment.
This also created challenges with community engagement. Holding Listening Sessions and
hearing from community in an online, text, email environment was new and unusual for
many. It is more difficult to “spread the word” about the process of how to engage than
asking people to come to their community center or place of worship to offer their
thoughts or experiences.
Several of the police members of the Commission were only able to join during their actual
work-time which required them to usually join by their phone, and they were often unable
to turn on their cameras if they were driving. Connectivity issues were often the case with
Commissioners due to broadband issues.
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Time
All of the Commissioners participated in this work by giving of their “non-work” or “non-
school” time in the evenings, almost every week, for months. The level of commitment
needed was significant. Additionally, the amount of meeting time per week limited the
amount of material that could be considered and addressed. Had there been an
opportunity for a “retreat” type of engagement once or twice, it could have made the
understanding and engagement by the full Commission more beneficial.
Open Meeting Requirements
Given the requirements for the Commission to operate as a public body, this created some
challenges for engagement. The Commission was unable to engage by email as a whole.
There could not be more than a quorum on any subcommittee, so care had to be taken if
Commissioners wanted to attend more than one subcommittee. The requirements for
notice of any meeting where a quorum was present added to the challenges for staff and
Commissioners and made any quick or spontaneous response to a current issue difficult.
Experience
The mix of experience levels among the Commissioners was an initial challenge. Many
Commissioners had not had specific experience with the type of work this Commission was
undertaking. Reviewing, evaluating, and making recommendations on police training,
procedure, or policy, was a new experience. The passion and commitment of the
Commissioners helped to ease this and the trust of those Commissioners that did have this
experience also helped to alleviate this challenge.
Volume of Material to Review
The total amount of material that could be reviewed was voluminous. The SLCPD policy
manual itself is over 800 pages. The types of training conducted, the demographics of the
departments, the unwritten but everyday practices that impact police work and
accountably, are all examples of the significant amount of material that could not all be
reviewed during this phase one period. The Commission approached the work from the
most pressing and impactful components of this material.
Late Addition of Facilitators
The Commission had been selected, empaneled, and begun work prior to the selection of
the facilitators. This created the need for the facilitators to build a relationship of trust in
how they work and their level of expertise. This took time and may have slowed down the
work some as Commissioners were still working on their relationships with each other and
then needed to find their trust in the facilitators.
12 PHASE ONE REPORT June 2021
Role of SLCPD
It was initially difficult to find the most appropriate role of not only the Command Staff
(Chief, Deputy and Assistant Chiefs) but also patrol officers once they became a regular
part of the Commission. The engagements required trust. There seemed to be more or
easier trust from both the Command Staff and Commissioners with each other. The
Command Staff attended both the full Commission meetings as well as often attended the
various subcommittee meetings. Patrol officers were invited to both the full Commission
meetings as well as the subcommittee meetings, but only attended the subcommittee
meetings when they could. The comfort level for the officers to speak was challenging for
some.
A special session was held in each subcommittee for the purpose of engaging patrol
officers and Commissioners in an open, honest way that was not specifically about the
Commission’s work, but about the police’s relationship in general with the communities
represented by the Commissioners. It could not be done in a full meeting because
of the desire to not be recorded or have it as an open meeting. The conversations
improved each other’s understanding, but were often difficult, with a clear sense that there
was often a disconnect in perceptions between officers and Commissioners.
Overall Recommendations
Training Subcommittee
The following recommendations are in four specific areas:
1. Field Training Officers (FTO) Program
2. The Crisis Intervention Team (CIT)
3. The Training Academy and In-Service Training Curriculum
4. Recruitment and Hiring
1. The FTO Program is a vital component of the SLCPD for the Commission to consider
because, as stated in the Salt Lake City Police Department Field Training Officer Manual,
(6/1/2016)
Field training has a significant impact on the individual trainee in terms of imprinting
department culture, attitudes, values, and ethics in carrying out the duties of policing that
will remain with the officer throughout a career.
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Ensuring the broadest demographics possible within those officers who are FTO’s sends an
unconscious message to the new recruits that diversity is an important factor for SLCPD,
that it is not essentially a White-only police department, and officers and Communities of
Color are important in the fabric of SLCPD.
2. The CIT Program is important given the difficult work of engaging with those who may
be in the midst of a mental health crisis, the intersectionality of race and mental health,
and recent engagements with People of Color who were having mental health issues that
led to unfortunate and often deadly outcomes.
3. The Training Academy Curriculum is important because it is this initial and
foundational training that propels an officer thru their career.
In-service curriculum ensures officers are up to date on current practices and is a means to
emphasize the priorities of the City and the Department.
How and what is trained is what guides an officer through the performance of their duties,
and most specifically how they engage with those they are expected to serve. They are the
main building-blocks for an officer’s performance of their duties.
How and what is trained is what guides an officer through the performance of their duties,
and most specifically how they engage with those they are expected to serve. It is a main
building-block for an officer’s performance of their duties.
4. Recruitment and Hiring is what creates the make-up of the officer and staff of SLCPD.
Diversity by itself does not change culture, but lack of diversity is a picture to the
community, a perceived statement of who the department is, and a representation of
culture
ISSUE: Demographic concern related to the Field Training Officers
(FTO)
Out of the 67 current FTO’s, there are only six (6) People of Color:
Two (2) are Hawai’ian/Pacific Islander
Four (4) are Latino or LatinX
There are currently no targeted outreach efforts to ensure or improve the diversity of the
program. It is designed for self-selection to apply for the program.
FTO PROGRAM RECOMMENDATION
◼ Create a process for targeted outreach to officers of color to increase the diversity
of the program
14 PHASE ONE REPORT June 2021
ISSUE: Training concerns related to the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT)
Training is not prioritized, nor data specifically captured, for Lateral Hires
Re-Certification is voluntary once certification from the Academy expires after two
years
There is insufficient budget to enlarge the program
Currently the program is limited to four (4) detectives to rotate work with
eight (8) social workers for one shift (day shift)
Currently:
189 officers have chosen to re-certify
272 have chosen not to re-certify
CIT PROGRAM RECOMMENDATIONS
◼ Require CIT re-certification for all officers
◼ Require CIT certification for all lateral hires
◼ Increase or re-allocate budget to complete this priority (with an emphasis on re-
allocation) and consider zero based budgeting in the long-term budgeting process
◼ Reprioritize budget to core responder model unit to provide for more detectives to
cover more than one shift and have sufficient staffing to cover when detectives are
unable to work their shift
◼ Prioritize and fill these detective positions (over other police specialty unit positions)
and civilian mental health professional positions, to ensure quality response, and to
add additional expertise and relief to emergency mental health calls
ISSUE: Training concerns related to equity, implicit bias, and
community policy curriculum in the Academy and In-Service Training.
There are no Salt Lake City community-based facilitators of color in the Academy
or In-Service Training
There is no component of the Academy that provides the history of Salt Lake City
and its communities of color
The current number of hours dedicated to Diversity/Equity/Inclusion/Implicit Bias
training in the Academy (four during Fair and Impartial Policing) is insufficient to
embed an equity lens and consciousness throughout the organization.
15 PHASE ONE REPORT June 2021
TRAINING ACADEMY AND IN-SERVICE TRAINING RECOMMENDATIONS
◼ Require Salt Lake City community-based trainers of color to be part of the academy
and in-service training team, selected in partnership with police civilian advisory
board
◼ Require equity curriculum that is best practice and that is co-created with a
community-based trainer
◼ Require that recruits learn the history of the diverse communities in salt lake city
◼ Require increased budget allocation to provide additional professional diversity,
equity, and inclusion training
ISSUE: There is no full-time recruiter for SLCPD
Given the difficulty in recruiting generally, and recruiting for People of Color
specifically, there needs to be a full-time recruiter.
There is currently insufficient ability to create targeted outreach efforts to ensure
or improve the diversity of SLCPD and support cultural change.
RECRUITING RECOMMENDATIONS
◼ Full Time Recruiter: Create a position that provides for a full-time recruiter,
tracking and keeping individuals within the application process up to date on timing.
If fruitful, it should be able to support its existence by the new recruits that are
hired.
◼ Recruiting Budget: Ensure that there is a budget that allows in-state and out-of-
state recruiting.
◼ Communication Strategy development of inclusive strategy, including a new video
with inclusive language with emphasis on recruiting Candidates of Color, social
media platforms to attract the very best officers and candidates to SLCPD; Provide
specific funding for a new recruitment video that is a more up to date approach to
recruiting, highlighting the continual hiring process opportunities.
16 PHASE ONE REPORT June 2021
ISSUE: The current oral interview process has no strategic approach to
including community or civilian members on oral interview panels for
SLCPD applicants
A diverse hiring panel, to include community members, creates opportunities for
multiple perspectives and a better evaluation for well-rounded and diverse
candidates.
If the goal is to ensure the best applicant is hired who brings overall
professionalism and compassion to the position, multiple perspectives can only
add to this possibility.
There is no legal, HR, or policy reason that non-sworn community members
cannot sit on a hiring panel. Non-sworn evaluators would not be evaluating police
strategic or tactical thinking which will be taught in the Academy, but evaluating
the individual and what they bring to interpersonal engagements with community
members.
INTERVIEW PROCESS RECOMMENDATIONS
◼ Require community members to be a part of the oral interview process, sitting
on any oral interview panel, with the same decision-making authority as officers on
the panels.
◼ Define Specific Characteristics desired to become an SLCPD officer e.g.,:
Compassion, Empathy, Integrity, Eagerness to Learn, Mental Agility, Cultural
Humility, Awareness, Sensitivity, Communication Skills
ISSUE: There are not a specific set of questions which allow for
identification of the ideal characteristics of the ideal candidates.
There is a need to formalize the process to evaluate the candidates from a
human-centric perspective. A structured approach would allow for the best
evaluation of candidates and how they will interact with the various communities
within Salt Lake City.
There is no mandatory requirement for panel members to understand how
implicit bias may impact their decision-making.
CANDIDATE SELECTION RECOMMENDATIONS
◼ Create and use questions which help the candidate identify their place in the
world and describe their level of cultural understanding outside of their own.
Recognize that this is an on-going process of question creation for multiple panels.
◼ Mandatory training on a regular schedule with Chief’s office representative and
Human Resource representative to ensure substantive discussion for panel
17 PHASE ONE REPORT June 2021
members prior to the oral interview of entry level and lateral applicants, with the
goals of:
1. Addressing interview questions
2. Discussing the intent of character desired based on the questions
3. Creating awareness of implicit biases that may impact decision-making
School Safety
ISSUE: Continued Racial Disparity in the Students who are interacting with School
Resource Officers (SROs)
Salt Lake City has experiences a large decrease in the overall number of citations given to
students by SROs and reduction in racial disparity in these citations (due to recent juvenile
justice reform efforts, the 2018 MOU between SLCPD and SLCSD, and School-Based Law
Enforcement Training for both SROs and school administrators), there is still remaining
disparity in the number of citations given to Hispanic students in some schools. For
example, high school citations for 2013-2014 were 125 White Hispanics v 18 White Non-
Hispanic students. For 2019-2020, 20 White Hispanics versus 2 White Non-Hispanic were
cited. This reveals significant reductions in the amount of citations and disparity as well, but
disparity is still present in 2019-2020.
SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER RECOMMENDATIONS
◼ Early in the work of this subcommittee we were made aware of the impending
expiration of the current Memorandum of Understanding (the “MOU”) that governs
the work of the School Resource Officers (“SROs”) as it expires at the end of 2020-21
school year. However, it has since been communicated to the subcommittee that
the expiration date will be extended until the REP recommendations are complete.
This subcommittee wants to commend this adjustment and appreciates this
recognition of the process underway.
Additionally, two commissioners were invited to participate in the “SRO Oversight
Committee”, which brings together Salt Lake City School District and Police
Department personnel to review the SRO program twice a year.
◼ UPDATED RECOMMENDATION (JUNE 2021) Second extension of the Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) on School Resource Officers (SROs)
18 PHASE ONE REPORT June 2021
We recommend extending the expiration date MOU between SLCPD and
SLCSD. Currently, the MOU expires July 2021 and we would like negotiations
to commence immediately with an extension of the current MOU remaining
in place for an additional 6 months or until renegotiated.
This will allow time for the new superintendent to become familiar with the
program, its efficacy and needs.
The School Safety Subcommittee has amassed a number of
recommendations for adjustments that could apply to a future MOU and will
share those with both parties.
This will further allow sufficient time to ensure that changes to the MOU are
meaningful and substantial and are not simply wording adjustments.
We expect this will include some language from bills introduced in the last
session that didn’t pass at the state level.
ISSUE: Concerns about barriers to services for at-risk youth & the
contributions to the School to Prison Pipeline
The Promising Youth Project (PYP) - is a comprehensive crime, violence, and gang reduction
program. The purpose of the Promising Youth Project is to provide youth with the
opportunities and support needed to unlock their promising potential. The project achieves
this by utilizing evidence-based practices and program to assess, case-manage, and
connect youth to community resources. In order to be successful, the Promising Youth
Project designed a program dedicated to serving the needs of Salt Lake City and its
residents. The Promising Youth Project contains two program components in order to meet
the needs of our community. The Promising Youth Project contains a (1) School-based
Violence, Crime, & Gang Reduction Program and (2) the Promising Youth Summer
Opportunity an adventure, life skills, leadership program.
◼ PYP is currently housed within the SLCPD
◼ The hiring protocols at the SLCPD hinder the ability to attract and onboard
youth/community advocates (practices within the backgrounds investigation portion
of hiring is off-putting to potential new-hires for several reasons including, but not
limited to long hold periods due to background checks before employment (average
30-60 days), home-visit inspections done by an officer in the home of the candidate
(which is off-putting to candidates, especially those who identify as people of color),
19 PHASE ONE REPORT June 2021
and a myriad of disqualifiers that prove to weed out highly qualified candidates at
high rates.
AT-RISK STUDENT RECOMMENDATIONS
In order to strengthen the resources available to at-risk students we recommend the
following shifts to existing programming:
The REP School Safety subcommittee recommends that the PYP program be moved from
the SLCPD and into the City's Youth and Family Services division. This move is intended to
allow the program to:
◼ Improve PYP’s ability to recruit qualified and passionate staff who can most
effectively bond with the students.
◼ Reduce barriers for youth participation who require a safe space to meet with their
advocates or receive mental health services. Youth coming into Police Department
offices is a barrier.
◼ In a subsequent meeting with SLCPD, the subcommittee was made aware that moving the
program to the City would threaten current funding sources (i.e. COPS grant) and they
asked to have more time to allow this fledgling program to flourish under their oversight.
◼ We therefore recommend that this be revisited in one year to determine if a move might
still be needed or if adjustments described here and below were sufficient to ensure that
this important program can most effectively deliver services.
◼ We recommend that this program be given adequate space and resources
(computers, cell phones, desks, curricula, risk assessments, etc.) to more effectively
meet the needs of the youth they are currently serving and to expand their program
to serve more youth.
◼ In a subsequent meeting with SLCPD, the subcommittee was made aware that funding
for supplies as described above has been found. We were also informed that PYP staff
will now share offices with SROs in the schools to improve ability to meet with students
and to further improve coordination between the two programs.
◼ We recommend increased funding to this program to ensure continued service to
the community and to allow increased collaboration with other City and private
programs for the benefit of the program’s targeted population.
◼ While current grant funding is in place for the coming year, it is still the
recommendation of this committee that secure, long-term funding for this program
be found be adding it as a line item in the SLCPD budget when current funding
expires.
20 PHASE ONE REPORT June 2021
◼ We further recommend that all (10) SROs be allowed to work with the PYP Summer
program throughout the summer.
◼ Currently, only a few of the SROs are allowed to participate in the summer program
and selection is based on seniority. This results in a breakdown of any rapport and
relationships that SROs have developed with at-risk youth during the school year.
◼ This adjustment would allow continued coordination between the youth and the
SROs to reduce the number of youth who drop out of the program for this reason,
which places youth at increased risk of involvement in delinquent behavior and
referral to the juvenile justice system. Therefore, the positive improvements that
youth have gained throughout the school year may be lost during the summer.
◼ This adjustment would allow School Resource Officers to continue learning, training,
and collaborating with Youth Support Advocates while engaging with youth in pro-
social, healthy, and positive environments.
In a subsequent meeting with SLCPD, the subcommittee was made aware that the funding for
the SRO program is now going to be 12 months a year, allowing the SROs to stay involved in PYP
through the summer months
◼ Peer Court - A restorative justice program working to combat the disproportionate
involvement of marginalized youth in the juvenile justice system by providing all
youth who commit minor offenses an alternative opportunity to be held
accountable for their actions.
We recommend that the peer court program, the promising youth project, and
the explorers program work closely together to maximize resources and
outcomes.
We recommend ongoing and increased funding to these programs where
needed to ensure they can work together to continue helping at-risk youth to
avoid the juvenile justice system and building better outcomes for these
students overall
Mayor’s Office needs to hire dedicated FTE to address equity in education.
◼ To track the MOU, develop programming needed to make SROs (or other programs
as determined) more effective and/or phase them out of schools, maintain a good
working relationship between the school district and the City.
◼ The subcommittee is aware of the new Chief Equity Officer and that there are others
on staff with responsibilities in this realm. The feeling is that mixing this with other
responsibilities does not allow the focus needed to make meaningful progress on
these issues.
21 PHASE ONE REPORT June 2021
◼ The job description for such a position should be determined in collaboration with
SLCSD and SLCPD to ensure the position is set up for success and is empowered to
make meaningful change.
OTHER ITEMS DEVELOPED BY THIS SUBCOMMITTEE TO ADVANCE
AND IMPROVE SCHOOL SAFETY
There were a number of other items developed by this subcommittee that should be
outlined clearly in this report.
1. Suggestions for the SRO oversight committee on how the efficacy of the
current program could be measured. These are attached here in draft form and
should be transmitted to Dr. Sandra Buendia at the Salt Lake City School District on
behalf of the School Safety Subcommittee when the subcommittee feels they are
complete. This has been an ongoing effort over the life of the subcommittee.
2. List of Potential Recommendations. The subcommittee has been tracking the
work they have been doing in a Google Document – many of the items in that
spreadsheet should be used to inform a future MOU, should it be negotiated in the
future. The subcommittee also reserves the right to advance any of them as official
REP recommendations should it become appropriate as the work of this
subcommittee continues in the future.
Policies and Practices
POLICY AND PRACTICES RECOMMENDATIONS
The Subcommittee presented five recommendations to the City Council. The five
recommendations covered the following:
1. Police Officer Body-Worn Cameras
2. Internal Implicit Bias Survey to SLCPD
3. Community-Based Training on the History of Policing with People of
Color
4. Co-Response (Mental Health)
5. Call Diversion and Dispatch
1. Police Officer Body-Worn Cameras (revised and approved 6/2/2021)
22 PHASE ONE REPORT June 2021
Utah Code sets minimum standards for activation, storage, notifications, and other
body worn camera procedures. Body-worn camera use in the Salt Lake City Police
Department is outlined in Policy 422 (Portable Audio / Video Recorders), which is
largely dictated by Utah Code 77-7a (Law Enforcement Use of Body-worn Cameras)
and adopted in 2016. Additionally, the City Council adopted Ordinance 54 on
December 1, 2020 for the Police Department’s use of body-worn cameras that
formalizes recent policies and executive orders guiding body-worn camera use,
data, records, and reporting (2.10.200).
The Racial Equity in Policing Commission believes the current policy and ordinance
is part of a multifaceted approach the City is taking to examine internal systems and
identify paths toward better accountability, transparency, and equity. SLCPD’s
related policies and Ordinance 54 match or exceed state law requirements with
their use. Additionally, the Commission found that SLCPD is progressive in the use
of their cameras by incorporating additional accountability and transparency
beyond what state law requires. Examples include internal auditing and outside
auditing, two levels of reports, and random audits of footage. This Commission
supports the current body-worn camera policies and ordinance and recommends
SLCPD continue to strive to be the “gold standard” of best practices nationwide.
Additional recommendations to achieve “gold standard” include making the following
modifications to policy and Ordinance 54:
◼ Ordinance 54 requires a qualified individual outside of SLCPD designated by the
Mayor to randomly review and audit body worn camera videos. The Commission
recommends that this position be identified and provided the necessary support
and funding to perform these responsibilities. Furthermore, the Mayor’s designation
of this qualified individual shall require approval and support from the City’s Chief
Equity Officer.
◼ Pursuant to current policy, standards, and ordinance multiple body-worn camera
reviews and audits are required, including those by the SLCPD audit and inspection
unit, the qualified individual designated by the Mayor, and the Commission on
Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA®). In furtherance of efficiency,
transparency, accountability, and sustainability the Commission recommends the
City specify, develop, and establish criteria regarding how body-worn camera
reviews and audits are to be conducted and define uniform and consistent
performance metrics and language. This should be done collaboratively with the
current audit and inspection unit within SLCPD (Sgt. Mason Givens) and the
23 PHASE ONE REPORT June 2021
designated qualified outside body-worn camera auditor. Strongly consider
including:
Audit all use of force reviews to determine if the reviews were conducted
appropriately and if the outcomes are within policy. This includes K-9
incidents involving use of force.
Increasing the random reviews of videos by the outside qualified individual
from 5 to 20 per month and include random sampling of officer videos as
well as completed supervisor reviews and allow for direct selection.
As required by Ordinance 54, a record and report will be provided to the
Mayor and City Council on a quarterly basis. The Commission recommends
that the SLCPD audit and inspection unit also provide a record and report on
the department’s internal audit to the Mayor and City Council on a quarterly
basis.
The Commission recommends these quarterly reports be provided to the
Commission at the same time.
SLCPD should inform the Commission of any incidents reported to Internal
Affairs.
Pursuant to Ordinance 54, any findings of material non-compliance with
state law, City Code and Police Department policy will be referred to the
Chief of Police, the City Attorney, the Council Chair, the Mayor and the
Mayor's Chief of Staff. These findings should also be reported to the
Commission.
SLCPD is required to provide an annual report to CALEA and such report
should also be shared with the Commission.
◼ SLCPD is currently nationally accredited by The Commission on Accreditation for
Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA®). This requires compliance with 162
standards and only 4% of law enforcement agencies nationwide are accredited.
SLCPD should strive for an advanced accreditation (462 standards) and explore the
costs, resources and benefits of doing so.
2. Internal Implicit Bias Survey to SLCPD
Leverage the planned cultural assessment mentioned in the Police Department’s
Crime Control Plan to incorporate an implicit bias survey. The survey shall be
24 PHASE ONE REPORT June 2021
developed, administered, analyzed, and disseminated by a third-party as agreed to
by the Commission and funded by the City. The results shall be shared with the
Chief Equity Officer, Commission, City Council, Mayor’s Office, SLCPD and the public.
The survey shall be modeled after the Pew Research Center 2016 national Survey of
Law Enforcement Officers*. The results shall be shared with the Commission to
inform next steps.
*References: See the PEW survey here as example and template:
https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-
content/uploads/sites/3/2017/08/29155639/2016-Law-Enforcement-
Topline_Final-1.pdf
*Related article: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/06/03/10-
things-we-know-about-race-and-policing-in-the-u-s/
3. Community-Based Training on the History of Policing with People of
Color
The Commission recommends the funding, development, and delivery of
community-based training on the history of policing of people of color.
The session(s) is not just about the history of SLC and its communities of color, but
of the United States and its history with People of Color and how that history
impacts, and is still a part of, the present. It should be co-facilitated with a qualified
community member (of color) knowledgeable and involved in equity work, and an
officer Sgt./Lt. or above (of any race or ethnicity).
The training shall be incorporated into the SLCPD onboarding process and provided
to new employees within the first 30 days of employment. This should also become
a part of in-service training since only focusing on the Academy and new officers
misses the majority of officers and would indicate that this is not a check-the-box,
nor a one and done. Content would be different after all officers have gone through
an initial session(s).
The session(s) should be a mix of history/present day examples of legal and social
impacts based on race and ethnicity, understanding institutional bias and racism
presented with no blame but as a description of what is. It should include an
understanding of personal bias and examples of the impacts of both personal and
institutional bias.
25 PHASE ONE REPORT June 2021
There should be an opportunity and the space and climate created for officers to
speak candidly. If there is not a sharing of perspectives, with the ability to be open
to hearing alternative perspectives, there will be no real chance for “AH HA
moments”. Space must be created to be comfortable having uncomfortable
conversations.
The Commission and SLCPD estimate the following scope:
◼ 700 officers to be trained.
◼ 25 officers per training group.
◼ 28 sessions (budget 30 sessions for makeup dates and/or new employees).
◼ Two hours each session (totals 60 hours).
It is recommended that this training be funded and developed as soon as
reasonably possible, and all officers complete the training within a reasonable time.
Additionally, it is recommended that Council provide any necessary additional
funding for voluntary overtime pay to ensure regular staffing needs can still be met
while officers take time to attend the training within this timeline.
4. Co-Response (Mental Health)
The Community Connections Center and SLCPD CIT Co-Response model is needed
and should be expanded. It should be the prioritized approach to mental health
crisis response. Mental health access disproportionately impacts minority
communities. According to recent data, 25% of calls to law enforcement from
African Americans are mental health related – this highlights the importance of the
initial moments and how to best respond. Therefore, we recommend expansion and
prioritization of the current co-response model with the following:
◼ Focus on communities of color. Reach out to those communities and provide
more community policing in these areas and build trust. Understand their
needs and educate them on SLCPD’s response and assess if it is accessible to
them.
◼ Expand the co-response program to provide co-response during hours that
are at a higher risk for use of force situations – late afternoon and evening.
26 PHASE ONE REPORT June 2021
◼ Provide co-response during virtually all hours and days where mental health
crisis calls most frequently occur:
Short-term/Immediate:
Two officers should be redeployed to afternoon shift hours (1430-0030,
or 2:30 PM to 12:30 AM).
One CIT/HOST officer on each shift should work a staggered schedule
that covers Saturday and Sunday.
Two clinicians from the Community Connection Center should be
redeployed to afternoon shift hours (1430-0030, or 2:30 PM to 12:30 AM).
One clinician on each shift should work a staggered schedule that covers
Saturday and Sunday.
The CIT/HOST Sergeant should vary, and stagger hours as needed to
provide additional coverage to both sets of assignments.
The department should consider offering pay incentives for both officers
and clinicians working afternoon shift hours and weekends to be able to
consistently fill these assignments.
Mid-term/6-12 months:
As staffing permits, build up this program by increasing the number of
officers from 4 to 10 to match the number of social workers. There are
currently 10 social workers and 4 officers, which means only 4 teams are
available at a time. This increase in officers would allow for 10 teams.
◼ Assess and evaluate a Civilian EMS Response (like Denver’s STAR) with an
outside agency when time is appropriate.
5. Call Diversion and Dispatch
Engage in a dispute system design process to develop the best/most appropriate
model/system for incoming calls, diversion and dispatch coordination and response. This
process should consider and/or include the following:
◼ Collaboration with public safety to understand how 9-1-1 calls are being taken and
directed.
27 PHASE ONE REPORT June 2021
◼ Understanding how communities are being policed and how they want to be
policed. Engage each of the City’s community councils and its communities.
◼ Add a mental health question to the 911 dispatch script “Hello, 911. Is this a fire,
health, police, or mental health emergency?”
◼ Establishing a civilian force response team to handle certain calls for service related
to low level investigative crimes and low-level disputes. (Matrix Call Diversion
Opportunities).
28 PHASE ONE REPORT June 2021
Continuing Opportunities
It is the desire of Commission to continue its work after the completion of this Phase One
component. The work of building trust and understanding, and creating meaningful change
takes time. The Commission believes they have offered meaningful ways to improve
outcomes for communities and people of color in their engagements with SLCPD. Further,
the Commission believes that to profoundly change culture and understanding is an on-
going process of engagement. The difficulties of the past year for both Communities of
Color and police are apparent to all. It will take both to work to improve outcomes and the
Commission believes in its work and the accomplishments to date. It will take the
continued support of the elected leaders of this city to ensure expectations for police are
clear, and accountability for poor, unprofessional, or unacceptable behavior is expected,
consistent, and swift. The Commission hopes to continue to provide methodologies that
support the creation of the best outcomes for all residents of Salt Lake City, and specifically
its Communities of Color. Additionally, the Commission hopes that it can be involved in a
meaningful way in the monitoring and oversight of its recommendations.
PHASE ONE REPORT June 2021
Appendices
Appendix 1 Small group listening sessions (Part I)
a. SLCPD officers
b. SLCPD chiefs
c. School Resource Officers
d. Utahns with Traumatic Brain Injuries/Intellectual Disabilities
Appendix 2 Public Listening Session I (January 28)
a. Polls/text comments
b. Comments/Themes FAQ
Appendix 3 Public Listening Session II (May 19)
a. Polls/text comments
b. Graphs
c. Comments
Appendix 4 Small Group Listening Sessions (Part II)
a. Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
b. LGBTQ
c. African-American/Black Community Groups
d. Utah Black Chamber of Commerce
e. Latinx and Hispanic Groups
f. Native American and Indigenous
Appendix 5 Social Pinpoint Comments/Data
a. Survey data
b. Forum Comments
Appendix 6 Text Message Survey Comments/Data
a. Polls
b. Comments
Listening Session – SLCPD (Officers/Beat Patrol)
Attendees: 5 participants, two people with the rank of officer, patrol sergeant, and others have some
rank or supervisory responsibilities.
Larry – Thank you for all those that can attend this morning. The profession of policing has been through
a lot in the last 6 to 12 months. The primary session of this meeting is to hear from you. It is not to
discuss community concerns – its to hear from your perspectives about your jobs. We are here to listen
and to report back to the commission. This is meant to be a judgement free zone. All comments are
equally welcomed.
This meeting will not be recorded. No name attribution in the notes.
Why are you here and what do you hope to get out?
• There has been a lot of discussion about racial bias. I have not seen it in my job. I am frustrated
that people see us as bias. We have done a lot to train to ensure a decrease in bias. We work for
a great department and we want to show that to the public.
• With this committee forming right on the heels of the unrest this summer, my feeling was that it
was formed on assumptions about our department. The commission was formed as a reaction
to mob violence and political pressure. Our patrol staff feels really defensive about our
department. With that frustration, I need to have understanding [of what this commission
thinks and what their intent is]. That is what I am here for – what is being discussed and how can
I gain from those perspectives.
• I am here because I want to hear what everyone is discussing. I am not sure what to expect. I
agree with the other comments. I just don’t see what people are accusing us of. I haven’t
experienced racial motivation and I haven’t heard anything. So I am interested to see where this
all goes.
• My interest is multi-faceted. I am intrigued to see where this goes in Salt Lake City. I work on the
west-side, I am very interested because of that perspective. The west side is (is what? I don’t
remember, either)
• I would like to help contribute to the process – scrutiny is not undue. We have a lot of power
and I think it is important to have scrutiny. The way this process came about was through an
assault on our characters. I was hit my protestors and they threatened horrible things to us and
our families. We started this whole thing by being hit in the face. This is a hard place to come
from. I would like to learn what the commission is doing to learn from police practitioners. Often
times people go to police chiefs for a perspective, but it is important to have boots on the
ground staff. You need the perspectives of the actual staff on the ground. The human costs of
this work – I would like the commissioners to understand that I think about leaving the police
force every day.
When you hear the phrase “racial equity in policing” in the context of your community of Salt Lake
City, what comes to mind?
• Accusatory – the term I hear is that it suggests it doesn’t exist. (<- That’s unclear) I feel like it
does exist in our department (can’t speak for others). I would like to be open-minded. I am not
saying it might not exist, but I haven’t seen it yet.
o What does it look like when there is racial equity?
▪ Equal distribution of employment. Internally on how we employ – is there
equity or balance in those we employ. There is equal opportunity for any one to
come work for us.
▪ No bias in policing. We don’t employ those that are racially motivated.
▪ Citizens feel safe and equally policed
• Defensive – I don’t see it in our profession. I would like to know where people think we are
being biased. When I police the West vs the East side, I never think about the difference in race
or belief system. I just address each situation the same way. I don’t think I am doing anything
wrong – I don’t see other police that way. Where is that notion that our police are mistreating
the public?
o I would love to have examples of bias and racial discrimination. Based on percentages,
it likely has happened. However, I haven’t seen it widespread. I feel like it is a political
hot button to accuse us of misconduct.
o My hope is that this commission was created so they could see there is no bias in SLCPD.
We would like the commission to investigate us. We are under the impression that the
commission have chips on their shoulder and something against the police department.
So we would like to know what they have against us. There are commission members
who have publicly expressed anti-police sentiments. What are their biases? Is it even
possible for them to be objective in this endeavor?
• I think a lot of officers feel the same way, as already stated. I hope the finding from this study is
that we are not biased. We do not look at how people look when how we respond. I, personally,
choose to work on the west side of the city because I appreciate the people on that side of the
city. They are God-fearing, family oriented, hard-working people. We don’t act upon a anyone’s
appearance. We act according to their actions, regardless of color.
• I grew up in Glendale and I still live on the West side. When I hear the racial equity and go back
to that side of the city – it brings up a question of what? I felt blindsided by that – show me
where we don’t treat people equally? I am looking for a pattern in traffic stops – it never has
anything to do with race. We don’t know the race involved.
o Vehicles pattern of behavior – prostitution is high in the area I work. You are looking for
patterns. Vehicles traveling late at night or early morning. Looking for vehicles circling
the block, appearing unaware of where they are driving.
o People on the commission came after me, following a police shooting, and that was
difficult.
• I believe equity is extremely important to this department. Before this all came to the forefront,
the department trained its cops on equity. At the beginning of this, I put forth examples of
systemic racism that I have seen in the department. No one has reached out to me about these
examples. I brought it up to management and to the mayor – no one has reached out.
o Juvenile Shoplifting – the parent doesn’t speak English and we [the private security
officers] encourage the parent to take out a credit with the store. This doesn’t feel
equitable.
▪ Retail theft is shoplifting. The $2,500 fine mentioned by Mike is the civil side. It's
what the State of Utah allows by statute. It allows the security officer company
to levy "treble damages" against a person they detained. [I wonder if Sandra
would be willing to address the legislature about this. None of us officers think
it’s fair, especially to the poor who steal something worth a few dollars, but
then get levied a civil fine that can be over $100. I’m guessing on that $100, but
I’ve actually seen it higher]
o Most of the time, when I initiate a traffic stop, I do not know people’s race.
▪ Patterns of behavior – you can’t gain perspective on our profession from notes
or an hour-long session.
• Patrol staff – most people are of the opinion that it doesn’t matter what we say – SLC is going to
do what its going to do. They don’t want to attend because it feels futile. I had a discussion with
a few people – they said there are mountains and valleys. We are just going to ride this time
period out – keep our mouth shut. I don’t see us coming back up or out of this negative
perception.
How would you characterize the culture and climate internally within the department on race and
relationships with communities of color in SLC?
• A source of pride – Before all this stuff, many people outside of law enforcement have said that I
am a good person that is committed to the people. I work with other outstanding people. Going
to work now is demoralizing – there is a deep human cost, as part of this job.
o What is the relationship with communities of color – a very small group of the
population have had the opportunity to taint the perception of our work. My
interactions with the public have been positive.
• We have factual evidence. Things have become worse after May 30th. The large group who
showed up to our city were not from SLC. The way our Mayor and Admin treated us were not
great. We have a 93% favoritism with the public and a very high level of approachability.
o Because a few outliers have thrown things at us, now we have a bad name, despite our
record.
o We have examples on our SLCPD positive interactions – we don’t have examples of
negative interactions.
• There is zero trust between officers and anyone above the rank of Captain. There is zero trust in
the Mayor and City Council and District Attorney. We were crucified by them publicly. It is all
about appearance for them – there is no concern about us. This commission was established by
the very people who threw us under the bus to protect their own image and careers.
• I think our relationships with communities of color are excellent. Our officers do so much for
these communities. They have very good hearts.
• My perception is that our relationships with our citizens of color WAS a source of pride. That has
been stripped away. Instead of having our practices appropriately and productively scrutinized
to improve address issues of systemic racism. Our profession has been subjected to libel and
slander to the extent that I don’t know how much more I can do this.
• Most people on the West Side would like the cops to be in the area. There are gangs that rule
some of these areas and the normal people in these areas are scared of supporting us publicly.
Much attention has been paid to the department’s use of force policy. What’s your perspective on
that policy?
• I worked on the committee that revised the use of force policy. The mayor’s press conference
that said they were going to redo the policies was a slap in the face. I am not debating being
scrutinized and having policy revised. The fact of the matter is our use of force policy is not the
problem. When I first got to this department, I thought the policy was incredible. Now policy has
no purpose, other than to switch liability on to the individual officer. Policy doesn’t drive cultural
change – inspiration does. The cultural impact is that officers are afraid to address issues and
use force.
• Officers are absolutely afraid to use force
• Why are officers afraid to use force?
o I don’t want to use force because I don’t want to be thrown under the bus publicly. It
may cost us our jobs. [We may also be charged criminally by this hostile administration]
o The Mayor and City Council have no problem throwing us under the bus publicly.
• The use of force policies now include a clause that allows threatens termination. officers to be
fired and terminated. Officers can be investigated without knowledge or representation. We are
afraid to use force because our leaders will crucify us. The Audit Unit has become an extension
of Internal Affairs. “Random” audits of body worn camera compliance are sent to sergeants,
who are ordered to review up to 30 days of recordings for one or two of their officers. Even
when no policy violation is found, the officer is required to sign a letter which basically says,
“You have been investigated for violation of a policy. Even though you weren’t aware of it and
had no representation, you have been exonerated. You are required to sign this document that
acknowledges you are under our microscope, and that future violations may result in your
termination. (I have 3 officers who are leaving, based solely upon this procedure.) There are
much bigger issues at play at our communities that are causing these issues. Why are we not
addressing having fathers in the home? Why are we not teaching our children morality and
personal responsibility? When you put a band aid on an arterial bleed, why are you critiquing
the band aid for failing to stop the bleeding? The police are a band aid for all of our culture’s
problems. You need to look at the causes that lead to police encounters. (I have no doubt this
perspective will be summarily dismissed. It just doesn’t fit the narrative)
• The policy for use of force is overbearing and the only thing that matters [to the mayor, CC, and
the chief] now. The commission needs to understand that they are were established and
endorsed by those that have no support for us. We feel betrayed and do not trust the Mayor or
City Council or the Chief or the Assistant Chief or the D.A. And we certainly don’t trust the
media. The more dramatic the story, the more money the media earns.
• The policy isn’t the problem – the crazy swing in how it is being enforced. All of my patrol videos
are going to be audited at any time. My camera has to be on but then I have to document it a
bunch of different ways. Someone will watch my camera but then the city is hiring someone to
randomly look at cameras. No one believes this will be random. It feels like a fishing expedition.
When you take an officer with more video – it makes them not want to do the job. It feels like
people are looking at us and trying to find fault. I was receiving phone calls from the city
privately that were supporting me but then publicly they were bashing me. How can I trust my
superiors after that? They will throw you under the bus for a news story.
Put yourself in the shoes of the Mayor and Police chief, what would you do? There are high low levels
of distrust and you are getting calls from some in the community asking for changes – what would you
do?
• Asking the police department what changes could be made – you are our experts on this
subject.
• When they announced the executive order there was huge backlash from officers because they
did not ask for our input, when they did finally get officer input the officers made the police
something workable. why not do that more. We have been ignored, absolutely. that is why only
5 of us are here today at this meeting.
• One of our core values – courage. I don’t see a lot of that. You have to be courageous enough to
speak the truth. I think we are falling down as an agency. When we are accused, I want to see
examples. We had to take on the mistakes of Minneapolis. We don’t want to be accused for
what happened across the country. No one is courageous enough to stand up for us.
• I think the chief needs communication – remove politics from his position. Being political has
changed how this profession is run right now. If I was the chief, I would be focusing on the
officers. I think we may need change – but I don’t think changes need to be changed by the
small vocal minority. They need to be thoughtful and methodical changes. When the executive
order was made, the officers gave a lot of great input. We need to keep up those processes – it
makes the officers feel like their voices actually matter. No one thinks this matters and no one
cares. If I was the chief, I would communicate more regularly with the officers. No one is
listening to the patrol officers. (I will add to this: The chief has a long history of making a show of
listening, but our comments have always been ignored. He’ll go through the motions of
“listening,” but we all know it doesn’t mean anything to him)
• Would you all be willing to ask others to participate?
o If you came to a line up – officers would be willing to talk. They will be defensive in the
beginning.
o People will not engage and it’s too late. We need to see action by our leaders. I don’t
want to ask others to engage.
o On May 30th, standing on the front lines and I saw my friends get carted away with
injuries. I got hit by a commercial firework. When it was safe and all was secure, the
chief came out and knelt with the protestors. This was an ultimate betrayal to our
department.
▪ The two people in power - one has no courage and the other has no conscience.
conscious
▪ There is nothing the Chief can do to have our trust.
o I would like to meet with the commission – I want to understand them.
o We are the dumping ground for everything wrong in society – the police are portrayed
as the problem. No one wants to take accountability. We are banging our heads on the
wall. No one listens. It is hard when people ask us to come and talk again.
o This is the last chance I am giving the department to make things right. effort I will
make to be part of a discussion with our administration. Witnessing this for 30 years, I
have little faith anything will come of this, other than anti-police results.
1.11.21 Beat Cops
Monday, January 11, 2021
8:06 AM
Larry conducted a kickoff statement - talking about the goals for today, gathering feedback for the
commission
Interested in learning from the public and stakeholders about interactions with PD, specifically
communities of color and regarding communities of color
Attendance - 5 participants, only two people with the rank of officer, the others have some supervisory
responsibilities
What brought you here
Officer 1 - Has never seen instances of racial bias and is frustrated at the perception that this bias exists.
How can we better communicate the steps we've taken to address this and the realities that he sees?
Officer 2 - Officers are feeling undue scrutiny, he feels that the best way to deal with this is to better
understand the other perspective
Officer 3 - works graveyards no previous experience before PD - wants to hear some of the conversation
first hand so that he doesn't just hear it indirectly - had a company for 15 years before this. He doesn't
see the things that he feels people are accusing the PD of and wants to see where all of this is going
Officer 4 - This issue is at the forefront of policing today everywhere - he works in Pioneer precinct
where a majority of the minority community resides
Officer 5 - Doesn't feel that scrutiny is undue - we have the power to take people's freedoms away - so
scrutiny is in order. He wants to be a part of the process. Before the protests - he would've been wide
open to the conversation about reform. Post protests - came personal attacks and physical assaults -
making the conversation a bit more difficult to participate in. It's common to go to the leadership - he's
pleased to see that the cops that are on the street are being included in this conversation as well. The
human cost of this work - he wants the commission to understand why he considers leaving police work
most days.
Larry provided an explanation of the Commission and its work (the same explanation provided on the
website)
What do you think of when you think about racial equity in policing?
• The word "Accusatory" comes to mind - because it implies that it doesn't exist. He's worked a lot
of different assignments and feels he's seen a lot of different parts of the department. What does
it look like when we have racial equity? Those we employ in the organization, is the opportunity
there? Are we employing tactics or individuals that are bringing racial bias into their work. Do
people feel they are being treated equally without regard to any factor?
• Makes him feel defensive. Shows up to the call, handles the call and then moves on to the next
call. Where is the evidence that we are doing anything wrong? He doesn't see it. Wants to see an
example of how SLCPD has done something biased or discriminatory. Wants concrete examples -
so its hard to understand. Maybe he's not attune to it? He hopes he would recognize it and put a
stop to it. Feels its just a political hot button that is being used as an excuse to levy accusations at
the PD.
o Follow up comment on this from another officer - they hope that there is a finding that the
SLCPD is better than other departments and that we find that there are no problems of
racism in this department. They feel that if you look at everything
• There are feelings that the members of this Commission is made of up people who
have a "chip on their shoulder" and an axe to grind. They would like to hear the
specific of examples they have of this racism. The same people on the Commission are
people who lobbied against him personally, who don't know him or his values and
followed him home. Feels that those things were done just based on the fact that he is
white.
• Officer that is from the West Side, hears from neighbors about this issue and is frustrated at the
accusation. He looks for a pattern - looking at vehicles that fit a pattern of behavior - he usually
can't see inside the vehicle most of the time. State Street is a great example - there are vehicles
that drive certain streets, pull over in certain areas, or near the seedy motels. Two rights - Main St
to Major St looking for drugs or a hooker
• This officer has offered up some examples of systemic racism examples
o How this department handles retail theft - someone who is ESL and maybe doesn't
understand the PD system - a uniformed officer issues the ticket to the parent of a youth
offender - then they have a $2500 ticket hanging over them issued by the loss control officer
[from a private security company] too and they have to set up a line of credit to pay that
off? Doesn't seem fair.
• He has had those examples ready to share for a year and no one has taken him up on
that officer, including the mayor herself
• A ride along is insufficient to help them gain perspective, an hour long zoom meeting is insufficient
• There is an assumption that it doesn't matter what the officers say - what's going to happen is
going to happen. Some people want to just put their heads down and keep moving without saying
anything.
• How would you characterize the culture and climate internally within the department on race and
relationships with the communities of color in SLC?
• Prior to this, it would've been characterized as "a point of pride" - now its demoralizing - we felt
we were doing well. There is a human cost to this job that is huge - traumatic incidents stay with
each officer - and putting this on top of it has people wanting to quit.
o Copied from the chat "Point of clarification, for the purpose of notes: My perception is that
our relationships with our citizens of color WAS a source of pride. That has been stripped
away. Instead of having our practices appropriately and productively scrutinized to improve
address issues of systemic racism. Out profession has been subjected to libel and slander to
the extent that I don’t know how much more I can do this."
• A small portion of the population has had the opportunity to paint the entire department with this
brush - one on one they say "thank you for your service" or "I know its not you". There were a
small group of known felons that perpetrated the violence during the riots - they have a pattern of
that type of behavior. The large group of people who protested aren't from our City. We have a
93% favoritism and 96% approachability - from our five year plan. This is undoing a ton of work
and effort to improve things with SLCPD and this "defunding" brand has overshadowed that.
• The fear is that we have factual evidence of the bad behavior during the riots and the positive
track record.
• There is zero trust between beat cops and the chief, mayor and city council right now - as well as
the district attorney. They are making decisions to protect their reputations and their careers, not
based on the facts.
• Communities of color and PD relationships are fine - officers are going above and beyond to show
compassion and they aren't asking for recognition - these officers have good hearts
• Militant organizations like the Brown Berets are assaulting officers and are personally attacking
them. Where is this coming from? We don't see any issues in our day-to-day work.
Much attention has been paid to the department’s use of force policy. What’s your perspective on that
policy?
• Officers were asked to be included in the process to revise this policy. The policy was not the
problem - policy does not drive culture. Inspiration and leadership drive culture change. He liked
the policies when he arrived. Policy has no purpose but to shift the liability on to the individual
officer. The cultural impact of the changes in policy are functionally - people are afraid to do their
jobs
o He'd be hesitant because he doesn't want to be crucified in front of the community for
doing his job.
o The leadership of the city will not hesitate for one second to ruin us publicly before knowing
any details
o Violation of policy can result in termination - if there is no violation of policy, they have to
give a letter that says they are exonerated. Please sign here. This means, you've been
investigated without your knowledge or representation
o Why are we looking so far downstream and scrutinizing on the enforcement end, when we
know the causes of much criminal and undesirable behavior comes from childhood
adversity, poverty and what we teach our children? SPECIFICALLY, no fathers in the home
and the disintegration of the nuclear family.
o The Commission needs to understand that they are endorsed and established by the people
who DO NOT support us, they have betrayed us.
o The swing of how the policy is being enforced. He does 400+ stops per year, that’s 400+
videos that he has to add comments to and do other things for. They are all being reviewed,
etc. They are hiring an auditor - no one believes this will be random - they think it will be a
fishing expedition. It makes the officers not want to do the job - more videos = more fodder
for the auditors.
o Distrust is bred when leadership comes to you and tells you you've done nothing wrong and
then crucify you in the media - this won't lead to positive culture change
If you were in charge, chief, mayor, city council and you were faced with this situation - what would you
do?
• Ask us….unless you have stood in a situation where someone who is not complying with your
lawful order and have had to use force. You can't possibly make effective change.
• They feel like they've been asked an ignored.
• They spent hundreds of hours giving feedback on the change in policy and were effectively
ignored.
• Copied from the chat "When they announced the executive order there was huge backlash from
officers because they did not ask for our input, When they did finally get officer input the officers
made the police something workable. why not do that more? We have been ignored, absolutely.
that is why only 5 of us are here today at this meeting"
• In addition to courage - the chief needs to communicate. He needs to remove himself from
politics. He needs to be focused on his officers and his department. Slow and methodical changes,
with input from those doing the work. They have a lot to share and contribute.
We need more voices from the PD but trust is broken - and when they have been asked to
participate in things - they can't endorse any more withdraws from the energy bank with no
promise that it will make any difference.
Officers stood and were hit with bricks, metal and frozen water bottles. Once it was safe and
secured - then the leadership came out and knelt with those protestors who just assaulted us.
There is no hope for those leaders - we have no faith in them. They say one thing to us and then
they say the direct opposite to the media. They allow societies issues to be hung on individual
officers, that’s too heavy a weight to bear. This is the last chance many are giving the department -
they will leave. Those that can easily leave, already have.
There are those who would participate, names attached, in a true conversation with the
Commission.
Salt Lake City Racial Equity and Policing Commission
Listening Session - SLCPD Chiefs
January 11, 2021
Attendees:We had one Deputy Chief, one Assistant Chief, one Chief of Police, one
Investigations Commander, and one Police Lieutenant attend the meeting.
Objectives:
● Understand the concerns and aspirations of those who have had interactions with the
Salt Lake City Police Department, particularly communities of color, and key
stakeholders interested in the work of the Racial Equity in Policing Commission.
● Provide and hold space for an honest dialogue and candid feedback for the
Commission.
● Solicit advice and innovation from the community in formulating solutions.
● Ensure that Commission recommendations reflect community values and dynamics.
Discussion Agreements:
● Open-mindedness: Listen to all points of view
● Acceptance: Suspend judgment as best you can
● Curiosity: Seek to understand rather than persuade
● Discovery: Question old assumptions, look for new insights
● Sincerity: Speak for yourself about what has personal heart and meaning
● Brevity: Go for honesty and depth but don’t go on and on
● Respect: Focus on issues rather than individuals.
Who you are and what are you hoping to get out of tonight’s experience?
● I really appreciate the SLC REP (we refer to you all as REP). We appreciate what you
are bringing to the community. It is a place where we can ask hard questions and have a
safe place to do so. It is to help us be a better department. We want to be a good
department. We are one of the oldest in the country. You get out what you put in - there
is always more we can do to serve the community. We want to be the best in the country.
The number one tool we have is the community - the more trust we have the better our
department will be. I hope to have the community and our department come together so
we can serve better.
● My main role is to translate vision into action. We were shocked on May 30th - the shock
was because we thought we were doing great. We had done surveys that told us we
were doing a good job. We had meetings with the community and received feedback -
no one showed up. We thought we were doing fine. It was shocking on May 30th. We
think this is helpful and are excited to have this feedback. If people stop calling the
police, then our statistics look better. With communities of color, they have stopped
talking with us. I am excited to start talking to them and to implement the changes that
come from the commission.
● We came into this, last summer, under the impression that we were on top of our game.
That is our perspective in the world we were functioning in. It is interesting to hear other
perspectives - they can be hard to hear. But we live in an echo chamber - other
perspectives can be surprising. Oftentimes the other opinions feel like an attack. I am
interested in having an honest opinion and to hear that feedback.
● Violent crimes get reported but we do face obstacles with cooperation with facets of the
community. I want to find ways to build better trust and build cooperation. This will help
crime across the city - especially poor communities.
● I think the REP commission is a good thing. It will help us open our minds and be ahead
of the game.
When you hear the phrase “racial equity in policing” in the context of your community of
Salt Lake City, what comes to mind?
● Fair, compassionate, unbiased policing, for everyone - races, socioeconomic status, all
communities. It comes down to compassion for the communities that we serve with
unbiased representation.
● Misunderstanding - we had a discussion with a police officer union meeting. It turned into
a shouting match. When the officers hear structural racism, they hear “you are racist.”
They don’t understand the difference between outright racism and implicit racism. This is
a stumbling block moving forward discussing with our officers. It will be hard for them to
see that the system is racist. A lot of them have never been taught that. We want to have
racial equity in policing but it will be a stumbling block with our officers.
● When we say “Racial Equity in Policing,” one could infer that there is no racial equity in
policing, and what we’re trying to do is create something that doesn’t exist. Calling
someone from the millennial generation racist - this is very offensive. They immediately
become defensive. We have been taught about implicit bias - it is not intentional racism.
Once you get people to realize we aren’t calling them a name (racist), then we can work
with them. But we have the challenge of helping people seeing past those labels. This is
about learning about our implicit bias.
● SLCPD is a very progressive police department. It is composed of some of the most
compassionate, professional officers with a very high level of integrity. We provide some
of the best training. Racial Equity in Policing insinuates on its face that the officers are
racist, uncaring, and unprofessional. This is directly opposite of how they perceive
themselves. That’s how it’s been taken by many officers, or the general attitude that is
being picked up.
○ What does progressive mean to you?
■ SLCPD is part of IACP and all of the best practices in policing
organizations. There is good research behind this. We follow best practice
and we put them into our policies. We hold our officers to this standard
and they take to those trainings and expectations. We have some of the
most professional and best-trained officers in the nation.
■ We have been able to rub shoulders on President Obama’s commission
on policing. Our classes had many leaders throughout the country - out of
that organization, we have been able to talk and learn from leaders
around the country.
■ Our Police Department brought in Fair and Impartial Policing and the
Arbinger Institute. We were one of the first agencies to have CIT training.
We were one of the first to have social workers. We formed a group of the
community to help reform things.
● You talk to many citizens that they would rather be stopped by SLCPD than any other
police department.
● We formed CAG and spoke to anti-police activists to hear what their main concerns
were.
What might it look like if your department achieved racial equity in policing? How might
you want that measured?
● If our demographics of our officers matched the demographics of our communities. This
may be one way to measure. It is a revolving circle of trust. If our community trusts us,
we can have more officers that represent these communities.
○ Some things that could help this: we need to meet the community where they’re
at. COVID has been hard and we haven’t been able to go out on the streets, but
if the community trusts us, we will get more people in our department. Part of
Racial Equity in Policing is to work towards this. We want all communities to trust
us and get to know our communities. A lot of people don’t want to be cops and it
doesn’t appeal to a lot of people. There are many reasons for this, and one of
them is distrust.
● I think the greatest measurement is from the community we serve. There are so many
things we can do, best training, best policies...etc. if we don’t involve the community,
then the trust is never built. After Ferguson, I went and called Pastor Davis and asked to
meet with him. I walked in and said this is what we want to do - we want to build these in
roads and build trust. He paused and lowered his glasses and said - we have been here
for 42 years - where have you been?
○ You have to do it with the community and in the community. The community
wants to help us - they want to participate in the policies. This is the SLC police
department - this is the communities department. We have a lot of work to do to
make them feel like our police force is for them. This is the most rewarding work
we can do to build trust.
● It is important for the communities to tell us what to do. We have never really asked the
community what they want us to focus on. I think it would be good for them to be
involved in what we are focusing on work on.
○ Are there certain communities you hear from that you don’t have to go out and
talk to? Are there communities that are much less likely to reach out and you
don’t have to make the first move with?
■ Yes, that definitely happens. You have to be completely engaged in
outreach to the communities - some are very fearful of the police
department. We have to do a lot to bring them in.
● To add - I think keeping SROs at schools is really important. When I worked at West
High School, I built relationships with those kids. SROs build relationships with the
communities and this is really helpful to building trust. Reaching out to specific
communities, such as the Latino Coalition, and asking what we can do better, could
result in progress.
● Doing surveys is also really helpful - it helped us to know how the community was
feeling.
● What might some of the indicators be that the department could use to indicate that they
have achieved REP? What could show this? What is currently inequitable and needs to
be addressed?
○ That is really hard to measure. I still think it comes from the community. I have
been to church at the Calgary Baptist church a lot. You see people come up and
say they really want to be a police officer - that is a huge win. As we do more of
this deliberate outreach, more people will want to be a part of the police
department.
After May 30th, can you describe some things that you did differently to demonstrate that
you needed to do something different?
● I heard that the community wanted change in our policies. The chiefs wrote the
executive orders - we used the Mayor’s pulpit to put forth that change. We need to meet
the expectations of all of our communities. I always ask the officers - we all went to CJ
101 that covered the errors of law enforcement and the different eras. We get to live
through a reform period. It’s exciting to live through this time and to create change. A lot
of the cops feel like everyone is their enemy - I keep reminding them to lower their guard
and to keep making small changes to meet the needs of the entire community. Change
is coming, let’s embrace it.
● Two things cops hate the most: the way things are, and change. To the previous point,
these conversations have been happening. We’re all about serving our communities, but
sometimes we get very black and white and forget that it’s all about change. We had
over 270 protests over the summer, and a lot of our time was spent dealing with those
protests. The next 2 weeks are going to be a fiasco as well. I don’t think the
officers/communities are scared of change, but it’s going to take time. The community
only wants to be “us,” and they don’t want “us vs. them.” Pushing people together results
in people seeing each other as people.
Much attention has been paid to the department’s use of force policy. What’s your
perspective on that policy?
● This department is a best practice department. The Use of Force policy isn’t just one
thing; it’s a conglomerate including deescalation, [guidelines about] when you should
[use force], when you shouldn’t. Married to any UOF policy is training, and you have to
drive that training home. Our UOF policy and the tweaks we’ve made to it recently are
moving in the right direction. Our officers embrace and understand that we need to have
these UOF policies. SLC is not having chokeholds, etc. It’s not in our policy; it’s
forbidden. So after some explanation and involvement of officers, it was looked at
differently and not as some scary thing in the corner.
● As a part of Internal Affairs, I learned a lot about use of force. Historically, these have
been based on case law. Our analysis of force was always analytical. What I learned
when I explained those things to the community, is that they were more based on
intuition. Community’s perception on the use of force is very different from how we
perceive how we are making those decisions. There are policies, like use of force, that
are going to be difficult for the community to understand. Our new policies have moved
us well beyond the standards of case law and more to a community stand. We have to
be in the middle here.
● The community standard is different than what the law demands. When we wrote the
new policies, we wanted to raise our standards. We still have a ways to go but the policy
we do have is really good.
●Graham v. Connor -https://www.oyez.org/cases/1988/87-6571: this is a baseline and we
wanted to be better than the baseline.
What training do you feel either needs improvement or needs to be introduced that
officers don’t currently get?
● We’re very excited to hear about REP and what training we bring back for SLCPD. You
can go to training, and sit there for 8-10 hours and learn the policies, but until you
actually practice them, nothing will happen. Scenario-based training (where officers are
given an opportunity to try out what they’ve learned and emulate that into their
communities) will be really good for our department and putting into practice the things
we’re learning. Training usually is everyone reading something and signing off that they
read it. We want to give hands on training to reinforce the learning.
● With scenario-based training, it will allow us to provide a variety of responses to
situations. It will create muscle memory for situations and help them respond well. It will
help them think through scenarios.
● I think it is important we train a lot more than we do now - right now it is 36 hours for
things we get sued for. Just the application of shooting the gun or shooting the taser
instead of going through the scenarios and thinking about when force should be used
and why. All of these things are just checking a box right now, and we should be
spending more time on de-escalation and de-escalation without using force or deadly
force. It’s not so much the topics, but the issue of more training, because we’re just
doing the items so we are not sued.
● Officers want more training - they suggested 200 hours of training. It came at their
suggestion.
● Walking out of the Police Academy, thinking you know everything, is due to some
respected members saying that “this is everything.” The reality is, the things that were
taught 30-40 years ago as the basics, would be laughed at today. The reality is also that
the people we have on the street right now believe in what the policies were before
because they were taught by those they trusted. So if we modify policies, we need to
modify how we teach them and there needs to be a consensus that “this is the right way
to do things.” We need buy-in from informal leaders of the organization to support these
changes. The people the officers know and trust need to point to these modifications and
say “yes, this is the way to move forward.”
● US Holocaust Museum - Policing in a Democratic Society - this was the best course I
have ever taken. It teaches you to see people as humans. I would love to bring it here.
Guidelines for notes
1. Maintain anonymity - do not capture people’s names
2. Capture themes of responses - in as much detail as possible
3. Save one copy in the google drive and one in our project folder:
\\jub.com\Central\Clients\UT\SaltLakeCity\Projects\83-20-045_FacilitatorRacialE
quity\PubInv\ListeningSessions_FocusGroups\Listening Session Notes - the
notes from previous sessions are saved here too if you would like further
guidance on formatting
4. Contact Larry Schooler (lschooler@kearnswest.com) ahead of meeting, if
agenda hasn’t been shared - so you can have a preview of what questions he
plans to cover in each meeting (this will vary slightly - meeting to meeting
Salt Lake City Racial Equity and Policing Commission
Listening Session - SLCPD SROs
January 19, 2021
Attendees:8 student resource officers attended from a few of the high schools and elementary
schools.
What do you hope to get out of this experience?
● Get a side you won’t see from anyone else. We have a different perspective from
working in the schools.
● General understanding of what is happening in the schools in comparison to what is
really going on in the schools.
● Get on the same page. Why some people think one way and others think the other way.
● I want it to be productive. I don’t want it to be a waste of time.
● I want this to be a productive meeting. I hope to learn different perspectives.
● Hoping to get other perspectives on police in schools. I am hoping they will be able to
see our perspectives. Half the squad is minority races and we want to get a feel for what
they think of us.
● See where the commission is headed and see what the opinions are
What is the most misunderstanding about the work you do?
● That we arrest anyone and we keep taking kids to jail
● People overestimate what an arrest can have on people’s life in the future. The
difference in how visible those records are as an adult. I knew gang members at a high
school and one kid stopped after he was 18, and all of that is invisible after 18. When
arrests are made, the consequences are not as dire as we think. People think that once
you get a couple arrests that it will be seen on a background check and that’s not true.
It’s the false narrative from the school to prison pipeline. That’s not actually the case
when action is taken, it's not as severe as everyone thinks.
● General perspective of cops - we are racist. We are the most diverse squad in the whole
department and even for my caucasian or white colleagues, they treat everyone the
same but when you break the law, you have to face the consequences. We have the
discretion of giving verbal warnings or pressing charges. Most of us understand that kids'
brains are developing and sometimes they make poor choices.
● The studies that come out that have numbers saying - disproportionally colored people
being arrested at higher rates of caucasians. We take the situations that come to us - we
aren’t seeking out specific races or picking out someone because of this or that. We
don’t get to choose what we respond to in the schools. I don’t think it’s a fair thing that
offices are being looked at like that.
● There is a lot of disparity and disparity can come out as racist. The end result is what is
seen and we don't’ have any control over this. What you are seeing in our numbers are
results of a lot of other issues long before they get to us. The symptom with the police is
the end of a long chain of other experiences - parent drug use, family issues...etc.
When you hear the phrase “racial equity in policing” in the context of your community of
Salt Lake City, what comes to mind?
● Obviously, are our policies being applied equally on the basis of socioeconomic status
and race. Am I conducting myself the same on the eastside as I am on the west side?
● When I hear that, it is not a thought that comes to mind as to what my peers think. I think
about what others on the outside - how do people perceive us doing our job? It is how
we are perceived that affects our work.
● Socioeconomics - the eastside versus the westside - people can get treated differently
because of socio economics, it happens. I have been on the receiving end. All the guys I
work with (SRO’s), I can’t put my finger on anything where they have treated anyone
differently. It is more on what crimes they have committed and their behavior. This
determines how they are going to be treated and dealt with. It boils down to the crime
and the reason for the contact. We are a bit more reactive than proactive in trying to find
things. It is not like patrol where we go looking for stuff. We don’t go chasing kids down.
● I have been called a race traitor - People think I am hispanic and they call me a traitor. I
don’t let it affect me. I chose this profession because I wanted to help people.
● I have had a lot of experiences - I am hispanic, we have a bunch of schools on the
westside. I have had a lot of administration and teachers call me on my day off and I
refer them to my partner. They respond, no, we want you to come. We don’t want your
partner because he is a white male. Schools specifically want a minority officer and
because of that I am favored because of the color of my skin. They voiced their opinion
and they still chose this officer because of their race. I don’t see other officers being
racist, I feel more accepted there and the discrimination I experience is outside of the
department. This primarily comes from admin and staff. They prefer the minority cops
over the white cop.
● What does the public think because of the badge we wear?
● As a white male officer, I can have good interactions with minority people. I want to
change the perception that I can’t have good interactions because of my race.
What do you see as your role within a school community?
● A lot of us know that, in the current climate, that we serve as a protector. There have
been a lot of school shootings. Having us in the schools is a big deterrent. You wear a lot
of hats in the school - you become a teacher. I help a lot of students with their
homework. You become a therapist for students dealing with things and they confide in
us. We deal with staff, faculty, admin. We deal with the neighboring community as well.
● We have several times with students dealing with home issues, suicides, runaways. We
act as counselors and therapists but we are necessarily trained for that. Kids respect our
opinions. I have been working patrol and I run into parents. I have been thanked for the
advice I gave their kids. We are more than cops in a school.
● I have worked to connect families to resources - social worker aspect. We have social
workers at our disposal and I try to use them.
● Media wants you to believe that this white cop comes in and x,y,z happens and I want to
show up and be kind and change that perception.
Do you want to be doing all the other roles (counselors, teachers,...etc)?
● I think that is the job of an SRO. We are here to be mediators, cops, counselors. It helps
build a relationship of trust.
● What used to be ideal and gets overlooked is the best cops knew the area, he knew the
families, he could mediate. In the last few decades, we have moved away from that. The
SROs are the last bastion of that form of policing. All the kids know my names at the
school and the parents know me. I think cops used to do more of that. We get the
chance to do that type of work.
● We are in a unique position as an SRO. We bridge the gap between the kids and the
force. We see them day in and day out. A lot of them will come to us with problems that
are not police related. It is a big facet of our jobs. A lot of these kids feel helpless. Some
kids don't know how to ask for help. I have ingrained myself in the school. I coach at the
school. Sometimes that has more of an impact than my role as a police officer.
○ Given the side of the law of what we can and cannot do - We can’t do anything to
hold them accountable outside of the law. We aren’t going to be hands on to stop
a student from being truant. We have our hands tied. We can’t force a person to
go back to school. The administrators are also overrun.
○ If a kid starts running, it escalates. We disengage and we can’t do anything to
use force. House Bill 239 took away our ability to enforce truancy. SLC does not
enforce truancy or take students to court over it. Children can drop out of school
and no one will do anything.
○ When kids drop out of school in Middle School, we have no way to enforce that
they attend school. We know there is no recourse. It is hard to watch them fail.
○ Courts don’t hold the parents accountable - we have no one to hold them
accountable to their children not attending school.
● Are you the accountability force in the school?
○ The way things are, the administrators get to their wits end and come to the law
enforcement to fill the gaps in enforcement. It is pretty easy to educate them on
what we can and cannot do.
Do you feel you have the training and support to fulfill those additional roles?
● We don’t have a ton of training - basically none. We don’t have resources to offer them.
Everything I can offer are additional resources offered in the school. The SRO training is
very little.
● I worked at a different city as an SRO. The training in the other city was way better than
in SLC. I was told this was the premier agency. But the other city offered out of state
training for SROs and it was incredible. There were break out sessions to talk about
school shootings and lots of other topics. Everything you could think of, they addressed.
I have relied on previous experience coming to the SLC department. With the mental
health issues, you just use your own personal experience.
● You are given a little bit of mental health training at the academy. We are not trained to
be therapists. We are given a small level of training until someone else can step in to
help.
● Our squad is pretty good. When we hire on, we vet the names and ask for people to fit
the mold of an SRO. You have to have a certain level of patience.
What should we be on the lookout for in our session with students?
● Make sure they are sharing first hand accounts - they can get stories from a third party
and don't actually know what happened.
● When the kids come, ask them before their interaction with the SROs - did they have any
interaction with an SRO prior to the incident? If they have had a prior interaction, was it a
better experience because they already knew the SRO?
○ Try and find out their perception of law enforcement before an interaction with an
SRO
■ How did that change after they met the SRO? A lot of times they have a
different perception of an SRO.
○ The school wants us to be a shield when something bad happens (a
shooting,...etc). We have a responsibility to protect the school - we would put
ourselves in harm's way for them. We are willing to protect them even if they
don’t like us.
○ I have a few kids that have run from the administration to my office to take a
break. It shows their comfort levels with us.
○ Ask the students where they learned their perception of police - a lot of times
parents have set a hard perception of police for their children.
School to Prison Pipeline - What are your perceptions of that?
● On a local basis - there are some places that have zero tolerance. Even in SLC, ten
years ago, this was the case. But this has changed significantly. The interactions with the
cops in the schools is a symptom of the issues at home.
○ Example - a student with parents in prison - they tend to have more interactions
with SRO’s then others. It seems to others we are the ones putting them on this
path but they have had years of abuse, neglect, and trauma and usually multiple
run ins with the cops. We have to have a way to address the trauma and neglect.
Even if we stopped arresting them in the schools, they will stay on that trajectory.
● I don’t think people understand after a student gets cited
○ Example: 14 and 16 year olds - they were in a young new gang. I charged these
kids numerous times for assaulting teachers. The administrators were chasing
down these kids and couldn’t even do their jobs. I reached out to the prosecutors
on their previous charges. Some of these students had very serious charges -
beating, robbings,...etc. A lot of these charges were dismissed because they
were younger than 18. They were not going before a judge. People think you are
ruining a kids life by charging them. It is not ruining their lives because the
juvenile history does get hidden at the age of 18.
● There are students that have a slew of violent felonies and it is not being addressed
because they are juvenile. Repeated offences need to be addressed and not just be a
slap on the hand. Kids need to have consequences for their actions. Dismissal of cases
solves nothing.
● Kids not learning in their youth of the consequences will lead to a bad outcome once
they are
● By not holding them accountable - they don't’ learn the consequences. They aren’t
protected anymore. They are held at a higher standard. The pipeline is created by not
punishing students when they are juveniles.
● School staff are the ones that build walls and spread the misperceptions.
I think law-makers could learn a lot by spending a month in a school. Drive around the
neighborhoods and see how the policing is happening.
slcrepcommission.com
Text "EQUITY" to (801) 575-7755
(801) 708-0935
Guidelines for notes
1. Maintain anonymity - do not capture people’s names
2. Capture themes of responses - in as much detail as possible
3. Save one copy in the google drive and one in our project folder:
\\jub.com\Central\Clients\UT\SaltLakeCity\Projects\83-20-045_FacilitatorRacialE
quity\PubInv\ListeningSessions_FocusGroups\Listening Session Notes - the
notes from previous sessions are saved here too if you would like further
guidance on formatting
4. Contact Larry Schooler (lschooler@kearnswest.com) ahead of meeting, if
agenda hasn’t been shared - so you can have a preview of what questions he
plans to cover in each meeting (this will vary slightly - meeting to meeting
Salt Lake City Racial Equity and Policing Commission
Listening Session - People with Intellectual Disabilities/Traumatic Brain Injuries
January 28, 2021
Attendees:Give general notes of the types of people that attended. For example - 5
participants, only two people with the rank of officer, the others have some supervisory
responsibilities.
Write down the questions that the facilitator asks in Bold
● Capture the responses and follow-up here below in bullet points
● If comments are sent in via the chat - call out that they were sent in via the chat and
copied and pasted
Introductions/Attendance
There were 9 registrants for the meeting. There were 5 attendees and 3 staff members.
What brought you here today?
● I know very little about this organization. I come from a perspective of traumatic brain
injury. I would like to understand what we are talking about here today. I have had
multiple brain tumors and have my own brain shortcomings. I am in a unique position as
a neurologist that is unable to actually practice. My interactions with the police are more
from an observer perspective. I want to understand how policing is applied with those in
my condition.
● I am a program administrator for brain injuries programs. If we want to make a difference
in people’s lives, we need to understand their lives. This applies to racial equity and
justice.
● I have had a number of Traumatic Brain Injuries in my life. My cognitive abilities were not
severely compromised. I have had many migraines and I have brain scarring. I
experience vertigo and have vestibular migraines. I stopped driving for a number of
years. I became a medical assistant to a neurologist. Because of my vertigo, I have
thought about how to interact with a police officer. I couldn’t pass a sobriety test when I
am experiencing vertigo. I know that this can create real experiences for others.
● I am autistic and on the spectrum. I work for a local tech company. My spouse is an
immigrant from Brazil. She has experienced harassment from police. My mother-in-law
has disabilities and we have to be constantly with her. She can’t communicate very well
and it could spiral out of control. A lot of autistic people will exhibit behaviors that are
[akin to someone] on drugs. Autistic people have had tragic interactions with police
officers because of sensory overload from sirens, noise, lights commands, etc. The
police officers were not trained to respond to someone with Autism. They do not know
how to discern between autistic people and people on drugs. We had a tragic incident in
SLC last year. As a white male, I have never had one of those experiences. I haven’t
experienced something like that. I can’t speak for those experiences. But I can speak as
an advocate for those people. We would like to work with dispatchers to know how to
respond and evaluate intellectual disabilities and how those play into the response.
● From the chat - The Utah Brain Injury Council (UBIC) used to offer 101 training to first
responders such as police officers to bring awareness about brain injury. Those trainings
can still be offered.
What sorts of actions have you experienced or observed from SLCPD?
● One is personal interaction. This is something that has been echoed by other Latinx
members of Salt Lake County. My wife was pulled over for something like expired tags,
something very mundane, but the state trooper insisted that she resolve it immediately.
She got out, got a screwdriver, and unscrewed her license plate at the side of the road.
Words were exchanged and she threw the license plate at the feet of the officer, and she
was charged with battery of an officer. Overzealous reporting/charging is not uncommon.
The DOJ struck a deal with the South Salt Lake PD ~10 years ago and her case was
expunged as a part of that deal. The Bishops in Brazilian wards in Utah have had to
warn their members with interactions with police officers. With those on the Autism
spectrum, there have been interactions where the common theme is how quickly an
anodyne interaction can be escalated stemming from a lack of verbal responses, or even
something that is pulled out and misinterpreted as a threat and has led to arrests/guns
being drawn. There was another incident in Woods Cross where a black 11 year old
playing in his yard had a firearm drawn on him because something he did was perceived
as threatening to an officer. The person with autism or disability doesn't think they are
doing anything wrong and the officer misinterprets it. Sometimes people will also use
their phones to communicate non-verbally, but this can also be viewed as a threat/some
unknown. These would be the two things I’ve heard the most--how quickly things can
escalate.
-When I think about this, I think of a case 3-4 years ago when a gentleman was walking
with headphones and was chased by police telling him to get down. The POs didn’t
realize he had headphones on and he ended up being shot and killed. What if someone
was deaf? How do you initiate these issues with police officers? I was at the ‘riot’ where
people with disabilities were pushed down by police, even those with physical and
invisible disabilities. How do we initiate/implement something potentially so subtle into a
police force? They don’t even respect skin color, and now we’re trying to move on to
invisible disabilities and other problems.”
● We had friends involved in the protests and they were shoved and hurt by police officers.
They were attacked and ended up with a TBI. It took over a year to heal. Healthcare
access was a problem for them with their autism.”
○What was the interaction like?
■ It was during a protest where the police kettled protestors. This friend was
protecting another friend who had been pushed to the ground (visibly
disabled). The friend was trying to help their friend, who was physically
disabled, up and was hit by police in the head. Both of these people are
petite and white. The friend who is recovering now had a history of TBIs
and they are finding now that they are dealing with long-term effects and
cognitive disabilities. They were advised by their attorney not to pursue
charges against the police due to participating and being charged in the
protest.
■ I remember being pushed against a wall so hard by a police officer’s
backside, who then turned to me and said ‘what, are you trying to steal
my wallet?’
● The other thing, from a program administrative perspective--we have quite a few patients
with mental health issues and disabilities. Depending on where the brain injury occurred,
it elicits certain behaviors. Behaviors include criminal acts that lead to arrests.
Sometimes we are able to convince the court that the person is in a program to counter
these behaviors with replacement behaviors. We have to work with the courts with these
people. We have our own attorneys. We have some people in jail and then they get
released - they have to talk to us once the release date is set. But often, they get
released without telling us. Then there is a Catch-22 where we are not notified until the
next criminal act occurs. We then get a call from an attorney asking how to break the
habitual offender--we say you have to be a partner with us and not just look at the court
docket. We need to make sure they are healthy and safe and get back in the program
after release. There is a lot of miscommunication between the courts, the jail, and us and
it needs to be resolved in order to break this cycle. The Police Department is supposed
to reach out and tell us about release dates, but we only see the court docket, and
sometimes it is hard to tell exactly when people are being released.
○ Does the police department do this type of outreach?
■ Yes, they know when people are released and they are supposed to
communicate with us to show when people are going to be released. We
have to find an open spot for people so they don’t end up back on the
street.
■ It is setting them up for failure.
● I work for a University in Utah. I am a speaker with developmental challenges. I came on
the call because I wanted to hear from the others on this call. I come from a perspective
of how can we better educate police officers, correction facilities, community members,
etc. What can we do to better help these people? I have a friend who has some reading,
processing issues who was being seen by UNI for some of his mental health
issues/medication issues. When he found himself in jail, it was hard to get any of those
mechanisms going again, and even expressing that this individual may need some
additional support. It was really frustrating and though it wasn’t a one-way street; he
didn’t want to disclose that he had a disability out of fear of being put in solitary
confinement. How do we educate people on these issues?
What do you think additional training for SLCPD officers should look like? What training
would be beneficial to the police?
● The training should be very basic. We don’t really know what an average PD education
looks like or what the training curriculum looks like. We need to start 1:1--what is the
brain? What is the body language of someone with a TBI/mentally disability? They need
to think, regardless of race, might this be someone who has a brain injury/is psychotic?
Other mechanisms need to kick in that tell the officers ‘I need to be careful, I need to
stay back.’ If you see your 4-year-old having a meltdown, you don’t escalate the situation
further. This is the kind of interaction that needs to take place for police officers.
-On reactions to protests--I have been involved in multiple protests/marches. I am not a
criminologist, but the responses from PD officers were very different depending on the
content of the protests. This isn’t a wild conjecture--CNN did a study on the content of
the protests influencing reactions of PD officers. For BLM protests, I looked very
heteronormative in a shirt and tie and could look very neutral when facing a police
officer. I acted as a go-between/‘straight man’ for the autistic protestors. I know how to
pass as neurotypical and come across as neurotypical as a late-diagnosed person on
the Autism spectrum. On more than a couple occasions I was able to talk a police officer
down. The police officers would get agitated, shout commands more, look like they’re
going to arm themselves. I have learned how to de-escalate officers.
○It sounds as if you’ve acquired the vocabulary that can get through even in
a high stress situation that can get through to an officer who is misreading
someone with a disability.
■ Yes--I keep my voice level, say that this person isn’t a threat. I looked
goofy wearing a shirt and tie with a backpack of medical supplies, but it
worked. When we talk about training, taking a step back--we don’t have a
lot of transparency for what training is. It’s surprising this isn’t public
record. The other thing is something my brother (who is a veteran) said:
he said ‘if I did half of the things these officers did, I’d be pounding rocks
in Leavenworth (in a max prison where U.S. war criminals are sent).’ If
you look at the rules of engagement, before even the rules are stated, the
rationale is stated. ‘Maintain peace and order,’ ok, but through what
means? Through a show of force? Or does this mean a community acting
in a civil way? On a definitional level, what are the police trying to do? The
Navy’s rules of engagement/the very top of the rationale will say if you
violate these rules, you threaten the mission. You jeopardize the mission
and the civilians. This is something missing from a lot of police training
materials. On training--what is striking is the Marines/ROE lay out that if
you mess up, the civilians’ reactions are deemed justifiable. You don’t
respond to that with more force. I see that sorely lacking in a lot of our
police materials today. There seems to be a disconnect--even after
Breonna Taylor was killed--that officers don’t understand why locals would
be mad. Follow the NYPD Twitter feed and you’ll see the same thing. This
is something that has to be resolved--what are you trying to do? I would
love to see this from the top--transparency.
● I alway wonder what is the best way to approach this - we need better communication.
How do we communicate from the perspective from someone with a disability? How do
we get the police department to understand that it comes down to communication? Is
communication better taught in an educational setting or through stories? Maybe we
need to communicate through stories. Maybe this is the way to get into these people in
the system? Sometimes, educationally, there are programs out there--was there a
training about Autism after the shooting of Mr. Cameron? I know they’ve done some
training but it’s been difficult to find out what that actually looks like. Maybe we need to
approach it in a different way.”
● I love everything that’s being said--there are a couple things I’ve been thinking of
especially that we are all white people here. I’m from New England and I didn’t know I
had a skin color until I moved here. Strangers will ask me where I’m from and even in
work situations. It really depends on where I am and who I’m with for how white I get
treated. I get to experience flavors of racism in tiny ways and I get to spend time with
people who have different issues with police that I don’t. You can’t train police out of
being racist. But what happens when they get trained that everyone around them is a
threat, their training is implicitly racist from the get-go, from the academy. Even if they’re
not, their instructors are racist and telling students ‘this is what and who you have to
watch out for,’ and it is implicitly racist.
○ From the chat: my wife felt EXACTLY the same way when she immigrated from
Brazil to America. She basically said it wasn’t until she moved here that she
became Brown.
● The people who come into policing couldn’t cut it as big dogs (militaristic) in other things,
and this is the way they get their muscle in. These are the picked-on kids. I was taught to
interact with police as a kid, inappropriately, that the way to make sheriffs go away is to
yell at them because they were picked on kids in high school who did this as their
revenge. I recall being 16 and coming home from a church dance at 2 a.m. and getting
stopped at a checkpoint and having the officer ask me if I’ve had anything to drink
tonight. I looked at the officer and asked him if it looked like I had anything to drink
tonight, and then he just waved me off. This is what can get people shot. This is not how
to deal with police, and that is a disgusting fact. You can’t teach people how to deal with
disabilities kindly if police are already out to get people. If police are already walking
around looking for bad stuff instead of being a presence in the community to protect and
serve, that’s your first problem. The summer that young autistic man was shot, a woman
whose son is an autistic teen posted about this, and how he is also larger, which makes
him a target. I can’t imagine being her and wondering every time he leaves the house
what is going to happen. How do you teach people not to see ‘large black man’ but
instead ‘person with autism.’ These stories need to come from people of color and from
their families, and the families who have been affected.
● I’m a neurologist, and neurology/psychiatry has a huge overlap. Are there any mental
health liaisons that can be sent out to the police?
○ Part of the problem of Linden Cameron was that the mother requested a mental
health care team, and she was sent a crew of armed police officers. SLCPD has
offered a different explanation every time. Do they even deploy the mental health
liaisons when they’re supposed to?
○ I’ve heard this from friends who have had mental health issues/suicidal
tendencies who have called for help, and they’ve said no mental health workers
have shown up, only cops.
○ I think it would be helpful for the police department to hear stories about people’s
own circumstances, their disabilities, their psychiatric issues, and this should be
taught.
● There is a very basic issue with people going into policing, people supervising police,
that they’re more comfortable with someone who is as least different as possible. Maybe
it’s exposure.
● There are also cities who have gotten lots and lots of exposure who aren’t doing well,
however, too.
● Somehow the education needs to include anti-racism, unlearning racism.
● I’m bipolar, and sometimes my moods affect my speech and levels of aggression. I’m
fortunate that I’ve never gotten to the extreme end of mania. I’m fairly well-controlled but
sometimes there are situations that my impulse control isn’t great. This could definitely
influence my experiences with cops.
● I don’t want police officers to become neurologists, but there are enough general red
flags that can be taught that tells someone that you need to do something other than put
them in handcuffs/shoot.”
January 28, 2021 Listening Session Responses to Survey, Text Messages, Social Media Comments
What part of Salt Lake
City do you live or work
in?What is your race or ethnicity?
In general, what
have your
experiences been
like with police in
Salt Lake City?
SLCPD officers should
have better training in
which area?
What might SLCPD do
to better recruit
officers from all
backgrounds?
What can you share about your experiences
with SLCPD and recommendations for
changes in policy, training, school safety,
and/or officer recruitment?
African Stronger outreach
C,What has the commission been working on
since last smer?,Please include social media
history in background checks for police. Please
do this quarterly. You can tell a lot by what
people post online or their gro
Black or African American
Cultural
competency/implicit bias Stronger outreach
Black or African American
Black or African American Bad
Cultural
competency/implicit bias
Black or African American Okay
Cultural
competency/implicit bias Other
Policy- end qualified immunity, 8 can't wait,
etc.. Training- barriers to transparency and
convictions, school safety- resources and
holistic approach to serving children and
families, have them watch pushout and learn
more about the school to prison pipeline,
recruitment- let them know there are safe ways
to report bad police officers and that they can
change the structure of their department, make
it real.
Rosepark/NW Quadrant Hispanic, Latino, Chicano Okay Other Other
Understanding that studies show that personal
bias trainings actually can further entrench
biases, what is the city's position on pursuing
comprehensivel,I am a westside, Latina
citizen... while most of the comments have
been valuable... but, I do not feel as though
issues of RACIAL equity have been considered
Hispanic, Latino, Chicano Bad
Cultural
competency/implicit bias Other
I don't live in Salt Lake City
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific
Islander
Haven't had any
interactions with
police
Cultural
competency/implicit bias More welcoming culture
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific
Islander
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific
Islander
Haven't had any
interactions with
police
Cultural
competency/implicit bias Stronger outreach
Can we get the polls that were given at the
beginning to the end of this meeting for
latecomers
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific
Islander
Cultural
competency/implicit bias Stronger outreach
Text Comments 1 of 17
January 28, 2021 Listening Session Responses to Survey, Text Messages, Social Media Comments
What part of Salt Lake
City do you live or work
in?What is your race or ethnicity?
In general, what
have your
experiences been
like with police in
Salt Lake City?
SLCPD officers should
have better training in
which area?
What might SLCPD do
to better recruit
officers from all
backgrounds?
What can you share about your experiences
with SLCPD and recommendations for
changes in policy, training, school safety,
and/or officer recruitment?
Avenues/University/East
Bench Other Race, Ethnicity
Haven't had any
interactions with
police
Cultural
competency/implicit bias Other I think they have been great
Southeast Asian
Avenues/University/East
Bench White Okay Crisis intervention More welcoming culture Engage with the Center for Policing Equity
Downtown/Central City White Great
Downtown/Central City White Okay Other Other
Downtown/Central City White
Haven't had any
interactions with
police
I don't live in Salt Lake City White
Haven't had any
interactions with
police More welcoming culture
Liberty Wells White Great Crisis intervention More welcoming culture
Liberty Wells White Okay Crisis intervention Stronger outreach NA
Rosepark/NW Quadrant White Great Crisis intervention Stronger outreach
Rosepark/NW Quadrant White
Sugarhouse White
Haven't had any
interactions with
police Community interaction
Sugarhouse White Great Crisis intervention B
Sugarhouse White
White Great Crisis intervention Better pay, benefits
White Great Crisis intervention Stronger outreach
When officers have time to respond to calls, my
experience has been great! But in the past 6
months, officers have seemed totally
demoralized and understandably less
motivated, like they're fighting a battle with
crime and public safety that they can't win.
White
Haven't had any
interactions with
police Crisis intervention More welcoming culture
Require officers to de-escalate situations,
where possible, by communicating with
subjects, maintaining distance, and otherwise
eliminating the need to u
Text Comments 2 of 17
January 28, 2021 Listening Session Responses to Survey, Text Messages, Social Media Comments
What part of Salt Lake
City do you live or work
in?What is your race or ethnicity?
In general, what
have your
experiences been
like with police in
Salt Lake City?
SLCPD officers should
have better training in
which area?
What might SLCPD do
to better recruit
officers from all
backgrounds?
What can you share about your experiences
with SLCPD and recommendations for
changes in policy, training, school safety,
and/or officer recruitment?
White Okay
Cultural
competency/implicit bias Better pay, benefits
I called for assistance at 3:00am, because a
man was trying to get into my house. Dispatch
told me the SLCPD was not in the area, and
they would be at my address in about 20-30
minutes, then disconnected. I was distressed
and scare, and not happy with my personal
safety being dismissed. When the police
arrived 30 minutes later, they reluctantly walked
around my house, found a slashed screen on
my door, but did not make a report as the man
was no longer on my property. Another
interaction was at the State Fair, talking to
members of the SLCPD wearing riot gear, and
asked if they were expecting issues. Was
informed by an officer that the "union" couldn't
endorse a mayoral candidate because of a
perceived alignment with the Brown Berets and
Black Lives Matter movements. My question
was why weren't they?,SLCPD has an
opportunity to build community relations by
integration into the neighborhoods. There is a
difference between law enforcement and not
inflicting personal bias and agenda into the
job.,Psychological vetting for all police, to be
sure how they are able to do their jobs, without
harming the community is very important.
Downtown/Central City Okay Crisis intervention Stronger outreach
Downtown/Central City
I don't live in Salt Lake City Community interaction
Sugarhouse
Sugarhouse Bad
Cultural
competency/implicit bias More welcoming culture I would like to ask a Question.,0
Crisis intervention
How can the.police on their job when they are
being told they are racist yest they are dealing
with criminals.that have guns and dont compy..
and how do
2
Cultural
competency/implicit bias More welcoming culture
Text Comments 3 of 17
January 28, 2021 Listening Session Responses to Survey, Text Messages, Social Media Comments
What part of Salt Lake
City do you live or work
in?What is your race or ethnicity?
In general, what
have your
experiences been
like with police in
Salt Lake City?
SLCPD officers should
have better training in
which area?
What might SLCPD do
to better recruit
officers from all
backgrounds?
What can you share about your experiences
with SLCPD and recommendations for
changes in policy, training, school safety,
and/or officer recruitment?
I would like this to be presented to the Police
chief. I used to live in a dangerous area of
midvale. I lived in an apartment complex that
had a drug dea,How are you going to take
these calls more seriously?
I am interested what these comments are going
to be put toward? I remember being in a similar
call with Chief Brown in 2016/2017 at the city
library. Mos
Text Comments 4 of 17
January 28, 2021 Listening Session Responses to Survey, Text Messages, Social Media Comments
What part of Salt Lake
City do you live or work
in?What is your race or ethnicity?
In general, what
have your
experiences been
like with police in
Salt Lake City?
SLCPD officers should
have better training in
which area?
What might SLCPD do
to better recruit
officers from all
backgrounds?
What can you share about your experiences
with SLCPD and recommendations for
changes in policy, training, school safety,
and/or officer recruitment?
How often is professional development?
Diversity training?? There,How often is
professional development? Diversity training??
There's a diverse room of commissioners but
how many are Salt Lake residents??? I feel lik
Black lives matter,Defund the police is the
same as re-invest with police in DV specialists,
substance use specialists, harm reductionists,
social workers, and social safet
Great Crisis intervention Stronger outreach
Okay Crisis intervention More welcoming culture
The resignation of officers after the mayor's
police reform executive order this smer
indicates a culture that avoids accountability for
officer actions. This should be addressed by
holding the department accountable through
increased power for our independent civilian
review board
Bad
Okay
Okay
Cultural
competency/implicit bias More welcoming culture
Crisis intervention More welcoming culture
More welcoming culture
Crisis intervention
Stronger outreach
If police insist on carrying lethal weapons
around many different types of people and in
many situations they are not properly trained
for than they should have a decent amount of
actual training in de-escalation, mental health
mediation, implicit bias and cultural training.
More welcoming culture
It has been mostly okay, however I have had
interactions with SLCPD that made me
question whether their intent was driven by
policy or implicit bias. Their efforts didn't make
it better and thus I wondered what the intent
was as the stated reason for their actions didn't
really add up.
I'd like to see police trainings / school look
more like a 4 year degree, like other
professional jobs. It would help weed out the i
Text Comments 5 of 17
January 28, 2021 Listening Session Responses to Survey, Text Messages, Social Media Comments
What part of Salt Lake
City do you live or work
in?What is your race or ethnicity?
In general, what
have your
experiences been
like with police in
Salt Lake City?
SLCPD officers should
have better training in
which area?
What might SLCPD do
to better recruit
officers from all
backgrounds?
What can you share about your experiences
with SLCPD and recommendations for
changes in policy, training, school safety,
and/or officer recruitment?
Why is the Standard Operating Procedure
SOP) of the police not easily accessible? Or
how do I gain access to it?,What kind of
training do the police get for dealing with
people who are on doctor prescribed drugs?
Text Comments 6 of 17
January 28, 2021 Listening Session Responses to Survey, Text Messages, Social Media Comments
Date of
Comment
In general, what
have your
experiences been
like with police in
Salt Lake City?
Do you have a story to share
about your experiences with
police in SLC?
It is most important that
SLCPD officers get better
training in which of the
following (cultural
competency/implicit bias,
crisis intervention,
community interaction,
firearms, other)?
What other kinds
of training should
SLCPD officers
get that they may
not get now?
What's one
critical change in
policy or
procedure that
SLCPD should
implement that
would help the
SLCPD do their
What might
SLCPD do to
better recruit
officers from
all
backgrounds
stronger
pay, better
What other things should
SLCPD do to recruit a
diverse police force?
How do you
think school
resource
officers should
improve
school safety?
What else would
you like the Racial
Equity in Policing
Commission to
know?
Name
1/28/2021 Okay "This morning, police were called
for a Black, homeless man
looking through the trash in my
neighborhood. I had given the
homeless man some clothes and
books a few days ago which he
had in his possession at the time.
The officers accused the man of
stealing the clothes and books,
and said "we're not going to
arrest you, but we could." I was
walking my dog and happened to
walk by, and worry about what
would have happened if I were
not there."
Community interaction, crisis
intervention, cultural
competency/implicit bias
I don't think
training is going to
fix the problem.
Defund the police
and reallocate the
resources into
housing, addiction
treatment, and
social services."
Defund the police.
I think this is a
critical change that
would improve the
city and the role of
the police. This is
not a personal
attack on the
officers, but they
are being stretched
too thin by
responding to too
many issues."
Other "There are three problems
here. First, primarily white men
are attracted to the PD as a
position of power and a
method of enforcing
whiteness, misogyny, and
colonization. So you're going
to get a largely white and
masculine police force.
Second, police on the whole
are not just discriminating
against but actively harming
BIPOC, trans and queer folks,
and poor and homeless
people. That means that
anyone from those populations
is risking a lot by joining that
group. Third, police in the
United States are charged with
protecting property, not
people. Whiteness is one of
the most precious forms of
property we have. As long as
police exist as an institution,
that will be true and will not
change by trying to recruit a
more diverse police force.'"
I have a
master's degree
in education. I
do not think
police belong in
schools."
This commission
feels like a half-
measure towards
what we spent all
smer asking for.
Someone probably
told you that it was a
good compromise. I
don't think there's
going to be any real
change, but I'm open
to a conversation."
Benjamin Petrie
Survey Responses 7 of 17
January 28, 2021 Listening Session Responses to Survey, Text Messages, Social Media Comments
Date of
Comment
In general, what
have your
experiences been
like with police in
Salt Lake City?
Do you have a story to share
about your experiences with
police in SLC?
It is most important that
SLCPD officers get better
training in which of the
following (cultural
competency/implicit bias,
crisis intervention,
community interaction,
firearms, other)?
What other kinds
of training should
SLCPD officers
get that they may
not get now?
What's one
critical change in
policy or
procedure that
SLCPD should
implement that
would help the
SLCPD do their
What might
SLCPD do to
better recruit
officers from
all
backgrounds
stronger
pay, better
What other things should
SLCPD do to recruit a
diverse police force?
How do you
think school
resource
officers should
improve
school safety?
What else would
you like the Racial
Equity in Policing
Commission to
know?
Name
1/28/2021 Okay "In 2002 i was stopped for driving
while brown. The cop couldn’t
find anything wrong with my car
or driving and was nervous when
I called him out on it. This is real,
and I under they are doing their
best, however, that’s no longer
good enough. Therefore, I don’t
always feel safe when I see
police."
Firearms, community
interaction, crisis intervention,
cultural competency/implicit bias
Mindfulness,
emotional
intelligence, crisis
management,
confidence with
respect for self and
others, cultural
experience,
grounding, listening
skills."
Become part of
the community.
They need better
pay and mandatory
counseling at least
once a month."
Better pay,
benefits
Have the ability to see the
person and not the color. The
color is there regardless, you
the white cop are just as
flawed as a person of color,
you are not better or smarter.
We are equals with different
life experiences. Be han and
don’t dehanize. If you don’t
know that’s ok, own it, and be
kind."
They should
teach and help
develop
afterschool
programs where
cops become the
mentors. Include
your family. In
minority cultures
family is
everything, so be
willing to
integrate, once
you can master
the skill of
acceptance you
will have a family
for life. The
community will
help keep the
community safe.
Share your
values and don’t
be afraid to
adopt a few new
ones. We are all
one body, in one
world, let’s take
care of each
Racism is real. But
we are afraid of
calling for what it is.
Racism is wrong, but
we let people get
away with it. It
should be a crime.
White people need
to know that it’s ok to
call someone out in
it even if that person
looks like them.
Bring back classes
like sociology, ethics
and philosophy to
schools."
Moni Candia
Survey Responses 8 of 17
January 28, 2021 Listening Session Responses to Survey, Text Messages, Social Media Comments
Date of
Comment
In general, what
have your
experiences been
like with police in
Salt Lake City?
Do you have a story to share
about your experiences with
police in SLC?
It is most important that
SLCPD officers get better
training in which of the
following (cultural
competency/implicit bias,
crisis intervention,
community interaction,
firearms, other)?
What other kinds
of training should
SLCPD officers
get that they may
not get now?
What's one
critical change in
policy or
procedure that
SLCPD should
implement that
would help the
SLCPD do their
What might
SLCPD do to
better recruit
officers from
all
backgrounds
stronger
pay, better
What other things should
SLCPD do to recruit a
diverse police force?
How do you
think school
resource
officers should
improve
school safety?
What else would
you like the Racial
Equity in Policing
Commission to
know?
Name
1/28/2021 Great "I have witnessed nerous school
officials request the minority
officers over white officers. When
I am in crisis I don’t care what
your skin color is, I only want
someone who will help."
Other, Firearms "Job specific
training for specialty
positions and more
tactical and
defensive tactics
training to help limit
use of force and
confidence in
individual skills."
Less restrictions
on what they can
do. The more our
city puts
restrictions on our
officers, the less
safe we are in this
city."
I don’t believe we should be
racist in who we hire. I believe
it should be the most qualified
people not the most colorful
people. We will see corruption
and terrible people if we
continue to lower the
standards."
I pulled my
kids out of
SLCSD schools
because the
SROs can not
enforce many
crimes and if we
do not support
our SROs I do
not feel
confident my
child is safe."
Think about the long
term consequences of
what you are doing.
We should not seek
officers for their skin
color but for their
abilities to be a great
officer. I am Hispanic
and the most racist
people have been
colored people. I have
seen more
discrimination against
whites than anyone
else but no one wants
to talk about it. I also
think you need to link
into what the SROs
role is within the
school, familiarize
yourself with the MOU
and how it’s failed
because tying their
hands only makes the
problems worse. Talk
to the administrators
at the high schools
who have to deal with
these issues on a
Jon Chu
Survey Responses 9 of 17
January 28, 2021 Listening Session Responses to Survey, Text Messages, Social Media Comments
Date/Time of Comment
Relative to Facebook Live Comment
Commen
t
Reaction
s #Comment Replies First Name Last Name/Username
1/28 / 1:42:35
How can you get young kids
engaged in being proactive in
their community without hating
the police. Some kids are taught
to hate police by family, peers
and others in the community?.2 Shellie G McKissick
1/28 / 1:32:09
SROs in schools decrease
graduation and higher GPAs.
Remove SROs 3 Rae James Duckworth
1/28 / 1:34:01
I think it's pretty problematic that
police departments are often in
charge of evidence that
incriminates them. My lawyer
requested dash cam footage of
an incident only to be told that it
had been "lost."1 Tanya Platt
1/28 / 1:31:21
I’m appreciative of this
commission who is here to
address the issues of racism
and equality in policing. I hope
they are given proficient time
and resources to make changes.
Thank you for leading the way.
This work is vital to our
existence!4 Lita Sagato
1/28 / 1:25:57
Thank you! There are plenty of
professionals out there
deescalating similar situations
without excessive force. I would
also like to see ONGOING
training for officers if they expect
to continue carrying lethal
weapons around our community
members."2 Kalolaine Palei
Facebook Comments 10 of17
January 28, 2021 Listening Session Responses to Survey, Text Messages, Social Media Comments
Date/Time of Comment
Relative to Facebook Live Comment
Commen
t
Reaction
s #Comment Replies First Name Last Name/Username
1/28 / 1:14:34
This is a racially diverse
commission (and it's great). How
does it compare with the
diversity and leadership in the
police departments? city
leadership? mayor's office?7
@user good point. If only
the police departments
were as diverse as the
commission Bobby N Belinda Saltiban
1/28 / 1:06:44
Why did the officer who knocked
down the elderly man in SLC
last year get to keep his job?
What was the reasoning on that?4 Cheynne Nimes
1/28 / 59:11
I'd like to hear more about the
role police unions have in
addressing these obvious
community concerns. I
understand they represent
police officers but where is the
alignment of representations,
policy, and accountability as well
as training to mitigate the issues
and concerns shared by the
community. Seems a bit
lopsided when it comes to the
actions and the perceived
mission of community service.4 Charles Henderson
1/28 / 36:20
Han resources that focuses on
Diversity & Inclusion.
User), I have reached out
to people in the city about
that issue and they have
expressed interest in
working on that.Ralph Misa
1/28 / 0:00
The labor of BIPOC community
members shouldn't always be
free. Bobby N
Belinda Saltiban 1/28 / 1:
48:14 Props for the for
and listening ears.Daela
Taeoalii-Higgs Facebook Comments
January 28, 2021 Listening Session Responses to Survey, Text Messages, Social Media Comments
Date/Time of Comment
Relative to Facebook Live Comment
Commen
t
Reaction
s #Comment Replies First Name Last Name/Username
1/28 / 1:47:46
The Commission needs a
stipend!!!Bobby N Belinda Saltiban
1/28 / 1:46:55
Mendenhall and Brown, are you
still keeping your commitment
with CAG tonight?2 Kalolaine Palei
1/28 / 1:45:44
I want to hear from you mike
brown Natasha Cadet
1/28 / 1:45:07
Where will these questions be
answered? I’d like to see the
responses 4 Lita Sagato
1/28 / 1:43:46 Yes Lisa!1 Heilala Fu'itahi Potesio
1/28 / 1:41:44 FTP 1 Natasha Cadet
1/28 / 1:40:32
REFORM SLCPD OR BE
ABOLISHED BY COMMUNITY 3 Rae James Ducksworth
1/28 / 1:40:11 Jme Cee
1/28 / 1:39:57 Rae James Ducksworth
1/28 / 1:39:26
Who's this Michael speaker?
Hmu Rae James Ducksworth
1/28 / 1:39:17
They used tax payer money to
take away the shelter and
necessities of people 1 Natasha Cadet
1/28 / 1:38:18
What is the point of having them
in this meeting if they are not
going to respond to the people..
they are getting paid to sit and
look uninterested 2 Natasha Cadet
1/28 / 1:39:06
That gear is NOT returned! It is
thrown away.1 Kalolaine Palei
1/28 / 1:37:54 Great questions Rae James Ducksworth
1/28 / 1:37:52 It goes to the dpster Jme Cee
1/28 / 1:37:02 Police are bullies asf.2 Rae James Ducksworth
Facebook Comments 12 of17
January 28, 2021 Listening Session Responses to Survey, Text Messages, Social Media Comments
Date/Time of Comment
Relative to Facebook Live Comment
Commen
t
Reaction
s #Comment Replies First Name Last Name/Username
1/28 / 1:36:29
It is obvious that when racial
representation is intentional, you
can find qualified folks who are
excellent. Hence, this
commission. So, how is the city
and its departments) actively
and intentionally diversifying
their departments outside of this
commission? Finding excellent
professionals of color should not
solely be isolated to a
commission, like this. Walk the
talk...1 Bobby N Belinda Saltiban
1/28 / 1:35:14
Brown and Mendenhall, WHY
AREN'T THE OFFICERS
IDENTIFYING THEMSELVES.
why are you openly dodging an
important security concern
question Rae James Ducksworth
1/28 / 1:34:14
Answer her questions now.
There is time. Where is
transparency Rae James Ducksworth
1/28 / 1:33:03 Code 3b Rae James Ducksworth
1/28 / 1:27:35
I agree! I feel like there is much
more understanding between
officers and their community if
those officers are from the
community they serve in.2 Kalolaine Palei
1/28 / 1:24:02 Thank you Maggie 1 Ralph Misa
1/28 / 1:23:45
The young 13 year old was shot
near my home... we heard him
say he had a gun..
1 (sad
reaction)Shellie G McKissick
1/28 / 1:23:40 Maggie, Thank you!1 Anna Zwalt
1/28 / 1:23:33
Good call out regarding
unarmed citizens and mentally
challenged citizens.1 Ralph Misa
1/28 / 1:22:53
I still have yet to see
Mendenhalls follow up.1 Ralph Misa
Facebook Comments 13 of17
January 28, 2021 Listening Session Responses to Survey, Text Messages, Social Media Comments
Date/Time of Comment
Relative to Facebook Live Comment
Commen
t
Reaction
s #Comment Replies First Name Last Name/Username
1/28 / 1:22:35
Lethal force should not be an
option unless ALL other options
have been used 3 Colton Uchiha Warden
1/28 / 1:22:37
The mayor is on the call. Good
call out regarding the 13 year
old autistic boy who was shot
several times last year.3 Ralph Misa
1/28 / 1:17:53 AMEN Colton Uchiha Warden
1/28 / 1:17:54 Great question Consul.Ma Black
1/28 / 1:16:30 Internal affairs review ??1 Peter Brownstein
1/28 / 1:11:25
With the LDS church now
implementing racial sensitivity
courses for its members. Do we
have anything like that in the
pipeline for law enforcement? I
feel like it should be required in
police office training.1 Ralph Misa
1/28 / 1:09:41
How many hours of training
does an officer get?3 Peter Brownstein
1/28 / 1:06:53 Milo!! Great great questions!!2 Anna Zwalt
1/28 / 1:06:29
I had the same question
regarding homeless individuals
thank you.Colton Uchiha Warden
1/28 / 1:04:49
Are the texts going to be
addressed?1 Colton Uchiha Warden
1/28 / 1:00:41
I am appreciative of all the work
being done here in SLC to
address these challenges. I'm
fairly certain that other cities
share these. Are there any best
practices that are being used
elsewhere in the nation with
positive results ?? Have any
efforts been made to find
these??2 Peter Brownstein
1/28 / 59:59 Thank you 5 Ralph Misa
Facebook Comments 14 of17
January 28, 2021 Listening Session Responses to Survey, Text Messages, Social Media Comments
Date/Time of Comment
Relative to Facebook Live Comment
Commen
t
Reaction
s #Comment Replies First Name Last Name/Username
1/28 / 56:10
How about we keep people on
who have had issues with the
police and we can discuss how
the situations will be handled
and prevented from there on out.1 Colton Uchiha Warden
1/28 / 53:53
This was reported by the
Attorney Generals office and
stated “we’re just not there” so
then what ????1 Ralph Misa
1/28 / 53:39
Please follow up with Lou as she
had 3 incidents to report. It’s
unfortunate that she is autistic
and is somewhat being
mistreated or in a way targeted.Betsy Naeata Nau
1/28/2021 / 52:49
No data no solutions in my
opinion. Ralph Misa
1/28 / 52:40
Utah historically failed to
politically fund ongoing police
enforcement data. What is the
commission doing about the
collection of law enforcement
data?1 Ralph Misa
1/28 / 48:29
The Utah’s Attorney General
was surprised by the shootings
by SLC police officers and one
of the highest in Utah.
Mayor????Ralph Misa
1/28 / 48:16
How can this caller provide
information to identify the date
and place of these interactions Peter Brownstein
1/28 / 48:12 Do you feel your being targeted?Betsy Naeata Nau
1/28 / 46:16
Does Mayor Mendenhall have a
follow up into the shootings from
last year?2 Ralph Misa
1/28 / 45:11
One situation last year was a 13
year old Autistic boy in Glendale:Ralph Misa
Facebook Comments 15 of17
January 28, 2021 Listening Session Responses to Survey, Text Messages, Social Media Comments
Date/Time of Comment
Relative to Facebook Live Comment
Commen
t
Reaction
s #Comment Replies First Name Last Name/Username
1/28 / 39:20
The fact we have to thank the
police for no harm done when
we call them is an issue. That’s
their job.2 Colton Uchiha Warden
1/28 / 44:18
How does SLCPD address the
shooting of many in the past
year that were unarmed?1 Ralph Misa
1/28 / 35:49
I witnessed an experience with a
crisis line intervention in my east
side neighborhood and even
though nobody was harmed, the
individual was taken for mental
health care Peter Brownstein
1/28 / 22:04 Actions are also important.Shellie G McKissick
1/28 / 39:04
Please put the online link to
PollEv in this comment stream.pollev.com/equityslc June Hussein Taylor
1/28 / 15:26
And they need to be re
evaluated every year 6 Or twice a year Shellie G McKissick
1/28 / 39:13 What is the phone nber?Ralph Misa
1/28 / 39:46 Next caller lol Ralph Misa
1/28 / 14:20
Officers before they hired need
a complete psych evaluation Agreed Shellie G McKissick
1/28 / 39:19
Bless your heart your a good
mom Betsy Naeata Nau
1/28 / 35:49
Si'oto 'ofa Komisiona Ka'ili mo
Komisiona Sagato.1 To'o Folau
1/28 / 35:13 Great question. 2 Ralph Misa
1/28 / 34:01
Tau lotu kihe faingata’aia si’i
kaunanga Koeni Betsy
Naeata Nau 1/28 / 33:09 Me’
a
eeeeee
1 laughing reaction)Lisiate
T.Wolfgramm 1/28 /
27:49 Bless your heart
Michael, and sorry for the loss
of
your friend
1 (care reaction)Betsy
Naeata Nau 1/28 /
25:50 Shout out to
you single dad 2 Betsy
Naeata Nau 1/28 /
22:48 Big Shout out
to Commissioner Ka’ili 1 Betsy
Naeata Nau Facebook Comments
January 28, 2021 Listening Session Responses to Survey, Text Messages, Social Media Comments
Date/Time of Comment
Relative to Facebook Live Comment
Commen
t
Reaction
s #Comment Replies First Name Last Name/Username
1/28 / 22:21 MJ! So great to see you here! Anna Zwalt
1/28 / 22:04
Shout out Commissioner Sagato
and Ka’ili 1 Nautalus Kaho Langi
1/28 / 19:31 Talofa Commissioner Sagato 1 Betsy Naeata Nau
1/28 / 18:04 to the ASL interpreter 3 Betsy Naeata Nau
1/28 / 17:33
Curious to hear from Chief
Brown what he feels are some
of the greatest challenges in the
area of racial equity that he is
already working on ??2 Peter Brownstein
1/28 / 16:46 We love u Chief Brown 1 Betsy Naeata Nau
1/28 / 16:28 (tagged two users)Ralph Misa
1/28 / 9:20 (users). Ko fe homou feitu'u?
Ikai ke lau mai mau fetu’u
ia
To'
o Folau 1/28 / 11:11 Am
I correct that
all answers will be correlated
against neighborhood and race?
Theme Proposed FAQ Text
Treatment of citizens with
disabilities, special needs, mental
illness
How does SLCPD train its officers to handle
situations where a person cannot
communicate easily?
Better de-escalation, especially
with students/young adults
(including changes to SRO
program)
What training do officers receive on de-
escalation and how might SLCPD improve
that training and performance?
General non-lethal and/or non-
physical interaction with citizens
What training do officers receive on how to
avoid lethal/physical interactions with the
public?
Racial profiling, disparate
treatment during stops (harsher
treatment given to communities of
color)
How does SLCPD work to ensure that
officers do not engage in "racial profiling,"
where people of a particular race are
stopped for reasons they don't understand?
Better screening of potential
officers (looking for extremism,
penchant for violence, etc.)
How does SLCPD evaluate potential recruits
for red flag behaviors, such as support for or
involvement in extremist groups, history of
violent behavior, etc.?
Better resources and options for
SLCPD to address
homelessness, gang activity
What kinds of resources is SLCPD seeking
to improve its performance for Salt Lake
City?
Cultural sensitivity when dealing
with communities of color
How does SLCPD train personnel in
understanding different cultural norms and
how to interact with people from different
backgrounds?
Sensitive handling of individuals
in distress (praise for SLCPD)
What kinds of best practices does SLCPD
use in dealing with members of the public in
some form of distress, such as mental
illness?
Praise and concerns about
citizens academy, depictions of
communities of color
How are decisions made about Citizens
Academy curriculum with an eye towards
racial equity/eliminating stereotypes?
Disparate responses to calls for
police assistance (specifically on
West side)
How is SLCPD addressing concerns raised
in the western part of the city, particularly
concerns raised by communities of color?
Call for better working
relationships with the refugee
community
What measures has SLCPD taken to build
and/or strengthen relationships with refugee
populations?
The Salt Lake City Racial Equity in
Policing Commission
Public Listening Session
will begin in a moment
Public Listening Session
Facebook Live, YouTube Live & on SLC TV
6:00 P.M.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
Call (888) 410-3427 to participate
in English
Call (844) 881-1317 to participate
in Spanish
Text “EQUITYSLC” to 22333
How can the.police on their job when they are being told they are racist yest they are
dealing with criminals.that have guns and dont compy.. and how do
I would like this to be presented to the Police chief. I used to live in a dangerous area
of midvale. I lived in an apartment complex that had a drug dea,How are you going to
take these calls more seriously?
I am interested what these comments are going to be put toward? I remember being
in a similar call with Chief Brown in 2016/2017 at the city library. Mos
How often is professional development? Diversity training?? There,How often is
professional development? Diversity training?? There's a diverse room of
commissioners but how many are Salt Lake residents??? I feel lik
Black lives matter,Defund the police is the same as re-invest with police in DV
specialists, substance use specialists, harm reductionists, social workers, and social
safet
When officers have time to respond to calls, my experience has been great! But in the
past 6 months, officers have seemed totally demoralized and understandably less
motivated, like they're fighting a battle with crime and public safety that they can't
win.
What has the commission been working on since last summer?,Please include social
media history in background checks for police. Please do this quarterly. You can tell a
lot by what people post online or their gro
I think they have been great
Understanding that studies show that personal bias trainings actually can further
entrench biases, what is the city's position on pursuing comprehensivel,I am a
westside, Latina citizen... while most of the comments have been valuable... but, I do
not feel as though issues of RACIAL equity have been considered
Engage with the Center for Policing Equity
Can we get the polls that were given at the beginning to the end of this meeting for latecomers
Require officers to de-escalate situations, where possible, by communicating with subjects,
maintaining distance, and otherwise eliminating the need to u
I called for assistance at 3:00am, because a man was trying to get into my house. Dispatch told
me the SLCPD was not in the area, and they would be at my address in about 20-30 minutes,
then disconnected. I was distressed and scare, and not happy with my personal safety being
dismissed. When the police arrived 30 minutes later, they reluctantly walked around my house,
found a slashed screen on my door, but did not make a report as the man was no longer on my
property. Another interaction was at the State Fair, talking to members of the SLCPD wearing
riot gear, and asked if they were expecting issues. Was informed by an officer that the "union"
couldn't endorse a mayoral candidate because of a perceived alignment with the Brown Berets
and Black Lives Matter movements. My question was why weren't they?,SLCPD has an
opportunity to build community relations by integration into the neighborhoods. There is a
difference between law enforcement and not inflicting personal bias and agenda into the
job.,Psychological vetting for all police, to be sure how they are able to do their jobs, without
harming the community is very important.
The resignation of officers after the mayor's police reform executive order this summer
indicates a culture that avoids accountability for officer actions. This should be addressed by
holding the department accountable through increased power for our independent civilian
review board
Policy-end qualified immunity, 8 can't wait, etc.. Training-barriers to transparency and
convictions, school safety-resources and holistic approach to serving children and families,
have them watch pushout and learn more about the school to prison pipeline, recruitment-let
them know there are safe ways to report bad police officers and that they can change the
structure of their department, make it real.
If police insist on carrying lethal weapons around many different types of people and in many
situations they are not properly trained for than they should have a decent amount of actual
training in de-escalation, mental health mediation, implicit bias and cultural training.
It has been mostly okay,however I have had interactions with SLCPD that made me question
whether their intent was driven by policy or implicit bias. Their efforts didn't make it better and
thus I wondered what the intent was as the stated reason for their actions didn't really add up.
I'd like to see police trainings / school look more like a 4 year degree, like other professional
jobs. It would help weed out the i
Why is the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) of the police not easily accessible? Or how do
I gain access to it?,What kind of training do the police get for dealing with people who are on
doctor prescribed drugs?
A recording of the Public Listening Session can
be found on Facebook or YouTube
THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING
AND SHARING YOUR VOICE
To share additional input for the
Commission, please visit:
SLCREPCOMMISSION.COM
The Salt Lake City Racial Equity in
Policing Commission
Public Listening Session
has concluded
Preliminary Findings: REP Commission May 19 Listening Session
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
84010 84047 84101 84102 84104 84105 84107 84108 84111 84115 84116 84131
ZipCodes of participants
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%
African
American Indian or Alaska Native
Hispanic/Latino/Chicano
Other Race/Ethnicity
White
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
Black or African American
Race/Ethnicity
Other Responses:
Resources for mental health and addiction recovery
Increase in funding.
More mental health workers and fewer police
Policing culture
Cultural changes within the department
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%
Training
Policies and Practices
School Safety
Other
What do you most want the Racial Equity in
Policing Commission to help change?
What else should the Training subcommittee know?
Trainers need to be from the neighborhood people that know the inns and the outs in the nuances of
the community
I particularly appreciate the recommendation that trainers themselves need to be diverse and
representative of the community
I would like to know more about how the training will promote Racial Equity
Training must be paired with accountability for consistent and sustainable behavior change
I believe that we need more officers than what we are coming up with for helping defuse mental
health situations we also need more social workers
Please train these folks by including citizens opinion
Thank you so much for your time and commitment to our community
Focus on ongoing efforts in the mix with point in time trainings as change takes time
I'd like them trained to do their job without firearms
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
Very good Good Neutral/Unsure Not great Very concerning
What are your thoughts on the
recommendations from the Training
subcommittee?
What else should the Policies and Practices subcommittee know?
What about 911 dispatchers? Are they being trained to gather information to relay to police
What are you doing to stop officers from profiling black and blown people while driving? My husband
is black and is pulled over disproportionately for th
what about a CTR type training?
I believe that's what the caller was referring to
Were there any findings that changed your personal views?
I'd like the REP commission to also look at the calls made to 911 by the public and if there are ways
that calls for service which may be themselves based in racism can be weeded out by dispatch.
Will the bias assessment be required and lead decision-making in the application process for
prospective officers AND performance reviews of existing officers?
Great work to the committee. Thank you.
Is there thought to taking infractions out of police purview? Like traffic stops and things like that?
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
Very good Good Neutral/Unsure Not great Very concerning
What are your thoughts on the
recommendations from the Policies and
Procedures subcommittee?
What else should the School Safety subcommittee know?
In a predominate white state and even school environment, having SRO is what makes many young
people of color uncomfortable. This had not only been seen in high school, but students of color are
also against that in higher education. There are better ways to address people rather than just placing
SRO
Involve students in decisions about who their SRO will be and how they are asked to interact with
students, to determine what will impact positive change
The issue is less the officers at the schools but that the school administration is using them improperly
and calling on them to do things they shouldn't.
Police shouldn't be in schools. Why not the mental health workers instead?
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Very good Good Neutral/Unsure Not great Very concerning
What are your thoughts on the
recommendations from the School Safety
subcommittee?
Telephone Comments (transcribed):
1) Okay, thank you, before my question, given the salt lake valley has always been a gathering
place for the indigenous peoples we acknowledge that this land which name for the youth tribe
is the traditional ancestral homelands, of the shoshone tribe and is the crossroads for. All of the
turtle island native nomads and indigenous settlers we stand in solidarity with our brothers and
sisters who are displaced Africans, Asians and recognize that Asian Pacific islander heritage
month is this month, and we also stand in solidarity and and with the Palestinians and
condemned the actions of the Israelis. My question is a bit of a twofold now that i've heard
some of the policies in because I just want to get some clarity on that listening session we were
just in. What my concern is is, these are trainings for the future, and is there a place that this
curriculum is made public as to how the training will be informed by the curriculum. What data,
what sort of is where yeah can we see the curriculum, so that the public may review it. Rather
than just because I think that's something that's important that the Community, be able to.
bring some feedback into that sort of policy and making i'm curious is officers are currently
excuse me i'm My tmj is affecting how I speak today. Is officers know qpr training and the
reason I asked this is because the majority of Much of the response and what we're seeing in
our communities is that responses to neuro divergent. People often ends in the centrality and
i'm curious if they're aware that qpr exists and to utilize those qpr tactics before responding
when it with anything other than less than lethal for someone like that. kind of what i'm tying
into that question is the recent clips of the Swedish officers that were tourists in New York City
and amongst the four of them, they were able to break up a violent fight that. With their
techniques of de escalation managed to. subdue those men, without any harm, like any fatal
harm to them, and it seems like it was quite easy technique to execute and that there was some
significant training for them to all be so coordinated, even on their personal time.
2) yeah Thank you, you had mentioned that a certain percentage of calls to police work for mental
health issues, I wonder what the criteria are that you use to make that determination and if
those are criteria you use when the call comes in, or only after it's been responded to thank you
3) Okay um so i'm a 40 year old one, almost 42 year old students have. an incredibly diverse
school district in Dallas Texas, which was predominantly black and Brown. And we had a was
Carter high school and I can tell you from my personal experience. That was a little over two
decades ago. As sorrows only represented forces antagonism and a sense of internalized racism
that perpetuates quite a lot of the bias that we see. That that are associated with as sorrows
within the black and brown school systems and how a lot of those racist ideologies seep in and
affect the quality of care and the quality of safety that our children have and the protections of
a checklist policing. With that just simply can't be met without a cultural understanding of how
we correct our youth and how elders within the Multi economies. Of of communities that exist
here how we call in our youth and how we correct our youth. And how this way is not the way
for children, children should not be policed children should not go to school in and fear this
authoritarian influence around them and instill so they can get a quality education. And I
disagree with having a sorrows as being a child of a family of several generations of students
who've passed through the SRO system only to experience how much of my family had been
affected by it. Because they were sucked in by that vortex of the school to prison pipeline, of
having friends people I love who go to prison. For you know youthful folly that ends up being
criminalized because there's an SRO officer there's an SRO rather than an elder right or. Not um
and it bothers me that you don't have K PR and that that sorrow officers who are in our schools
in a state that has such highest. numbers of youth self harm and you've completion that you
don't have officers that are qpr trained. it's it's it's disturbing to note that this is the first time
you're hearing of it when it's existed for quite a while. And i'm wondering why there seems to
be quite a lot of reinvention of processes when there's already good stuff that works out there
right and why that just not simply being incorporated in that current training. modalities it's
just, we need to keep our kids safe and COP have no business in our school. Maybe surrounding
perimeters and and that sort of thing, but we need to have a. You know, principles and you
know ways of being able to de escalate, even in like I said in the most dangerous situations, so
the evidence that we can do that to do want to.
Comment from Spanish line:
(Diego Munoz)(Salt Lake City)() There’s not security at RosePark school, we’d like to see a police officer
there watching the kids.
Facebook comments: to be provided by staff
Theme Proposed FAQ Text
Treatment of citizens with
disabilities, special needs, mental
illness
How does SLCPD train its officers to handle
situations where a person cannot
communicate easily?
Better de-escalation, especially
with students/young adults
(including changes to SRO
program)
What training do officers receive on de-
escalation and how might SLCPD improve
that training and performance?
General non-lethal and/or non-
physical interaction with citizens
What training do officers receive on how to
avoid lethal/physical interactions with the
public?
Racial profiling, disparate
treatment during stops (harsher
treatment given to communities of
color)
How does SLCPD work to ensure that
officers do not engage in "racial profiling,"
where people of a particular race are
stopped for reasons they don't understand?
Better screening of potential
officers (looking for extremism,
penchant for violence, etc.)
How does SLCPD evaluate potential recruits
for red flag behaviors, such as support for or
involvement in extremist groups, history of
violent behavior, etc.?
Better resources and options for
SLCPD to address
homelessness, gang activity
What kinds of resources is SLCPD seeking
to improve its performance for Salt Lake
City?
Cultural sensitivity when dealing
with communities of color
How does SLCPD train personnel in
understanding different cultural norms and
how to interact with people from different
backgrounds?
Sensitive handling of individuals
in distress (praise for SLCPD)
What kinds of best practices does SLCPD
use in dealing with members of the public in
some form of distress, such as mental
illness?
Praise and concerns about
citizens academy, depictions of
communities of color
How are decisions made about Citizens
Academy curriculum with an eye towards
racial equity/eliminating stereotypes?
Disparate responses to calls for
police assistance (specifically on
West side)
How is SLCPD addressing concerns raised
in the western part of the city, particularly
concerns raised by communities of color?
Call for better working
relationships with the refugee
community
What measures has SLCPD taken to build
and/or strengthen relationships with refugee
populations?
Guidelines for notes
1. Meeting is held with anonymity- Do not capture names.
2. Capture themes of responses - in as much detail as possible
3. Save one copy in the Teams Folder for Subcommittee
Salt Lake City Racial Equity and Policing Commission
Listening Session - Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander
June 24, 2021
Attendees:
Two Commissioners
Seven Community Members (Civic Engagement, Executive Director for National Tongan
Society, (JP), Case Manager SL Equal Rights Community, Movement & Black Lives Matter,
Tongan American, Utah Pacific Islander Civic Engagement Community
One City Staff
Write down the questions that the facilitator asks in Bold
● School Safety – Interest; Training – Interest; Policies & Practices
● Feedback about the SRO
○ Which schools are allocated an SRO?
○ Are charter schools included?
○ Where will the data be gathered from – intentionally focusing it from the
communities of color
○ Male students of color, also include separately female students of color and what
disproportionate referrals look like to admin/juvy/authorities
○ Guidelines helpful for when teachers should involve SROs (truancy can lead
someone into the system – not previously exposed to until group homes)
○ MOU Provided in Chat
(https://www.slcdocs.com/recorder/REPAgenda/Agenda_Materials/2019%20SR
O%20Agreement.pdf)
○ What is the role of the SRO officer in addressing bullying?
○ Emphasize the essence of policing – and the students rights with the SRO
○ Hire those that have Bachelor’s degree or something related to the education
teachers also must pursue to engage with students
○ The records completed by the SRO when included as part of the individuals
history, carries on with the individual
○ SRO should be available for safety – more money put into counselors and
cultural background experienced individuals
■ Impact of the records is very influential in the development of the success
of the youth involved
○ Suggestion to de-escalation include working with families for more involved
intervention
● Training
○ Will community-based trainers by compensated?
■ (Larry: Yes – contracted by the City/Department)
○ Not one single trainer for all of the topics
○ What are the rules with officers who have civilian complaints or other (Zane
James) offenses – particularly to be in schools
■ No clear clarification on how SROs are selected to be in the schools;
requested a need to be clear about the involvement in the selection
process (instead of Police determination solely)
○ Interview process with community members/students in the selection process,
will records be available to assist with the decision?
○ Mana Academy has a good cultural training (required by teachers) and would be
worthwhile to consider as a resource
○ Is there separate training provided to SROs (and can it be evaluated)
○ Value of officers training when involving adolescents , especially when so many
young students especially BIPOC students who may have mental health issues.
working with younger kids with mental health issues is much different than adults.
● Policies & Practice
○ Will there be a student review team for SRO (similar to the Civilian Review
Board)
Salt Lake City Racial Equity and Policing Commission
Listening Session – LGBTQ
June 18, 2021
Attendees:
1 commissioner
1 community stakeholder
1 facilitator
2 city staff
Notes on the session:
(The facilitator went through the recommendations of the Policies & Practices and Training
Subcommittee – the School Safety recommendations were briefly touched on)
There was a breakdown of the commission and explanation of what the commission was and
what it worked on. It was highlighted that the commission has reached more than just
communities of color and that it’s work has touched the lives of a lot of different groups within
the City.
The group began working their way through the three subcommittees and going over their
recommendations. They began with Policies & Practices and went through the
recommendations and touched on reviews and audits and how those need to be reviewed, and
on how communities should have a say in if there are specific things within the community that
officers need to be trained on. The bulk of time was spent on how officers respond to those in a
mental health crisis. Integration of clinicians or civilians in the response to those in a mental
health crisis was the highlight of this portion.
It was mentioned that youth suicide rates within LGBTQ youth is very high and that the focus on
mental health response was impressive and will help those who are struggling. Another major
theme was that there can be a lot of fear in calling 911 and having authorities come out but that
the integration of mental health professionals could help eliminate that hesitation and do so
drastically. Some of the challenges for LGBTQ youth could be the fear of how officers respond
to those who are transitioning or are transgender, as well as costs of services like an
ambulance. One of the other main themes was the officer’s use of gender pronouns when
interacting with LGBTQ individuals while doing what is needed to be respectful and mindful of
an individual’s preferred gender pronouns and preferred name.
The group then moved into the Training Subcommittee’s recommendations. It was once again
discussed that the community should be involved in the applicant process to ensure that their
needs are being met. Additionally, it was touched on the field training officers should be a more
diverse body and reflect their community. One of the main themes in the recommendations that
was touched on was training for responding to a mental health crisis – requiring a re-certification
for all and if you come into the Salt Lake City Police Department from another City that those
officers are also required to be certified and meet the same qualifications and certifications as
the officers in SLCPD. It was added that co-response should be required to mental health crisis
calls, as they are more knowledgeable in how to effectively respond.
The community stakeholder also believes requiring diversity and history training for new recruits
on the different communities in Salt Lake City would be beneficial to aiding how officers
respond.
Some of the feedback in response to the Training recommendations was that the tones need to
be continued and carried over to those within the LGBTQ community. It was added that there
are resources and trainings available for law enforcement that could be provided to help train
and aid officers. Enhanced recruitment within the LGBTQ community and diversifying the police
force and could aid in response. It would also help the SLCPD accurately represent the
diversity of the City it serves.
It was briefly added at the end by the community stakeholder that the police should start their
recruitment with Q Salt Lake (a local news outlet for the LGBTQ community) and potentially do
interviews or articles to begin recruiting within the community.
Racial Equity in Policing
Small Group Listening Session – African American/Black Community Groups
Meeting Notes
Tuesday, June 15th 9:30am
• Group wanted to see an outside entity that oversees the implementation of how the REP is
formed.
• Would like to see checks and balances monitored with a live doc/report.
o How is the information being released?
o What is the data after implementation is complete?
• Comments Regarding School Subcommittee:
o Would like to see more student/parent involvement.
o More administration reviews.
o Curate healthy relationships between SROs and students.
▪ SRO to be viewed more like a faculty member as opposed to an officer.
▪ May help reduce funneling of school-to-prison pipeline.
▪ Informal conversations with students can help with de-escalation tactics.
o How are SROs distributed throughout? Who makes that determination?
▪ Community would like to see transparency in these decisions.
o What problems are we trying to solve by means of SROs? How have they been resolved
in the past?
o Clarify the role of SROs on campus’.
• Training Subcommittee
o Officers need more mental health training.
▪ Possibly send a different entity to respond to mental health calls.
o DNI Officer trainings on culture, experiences, & history.
• Policy & Practice
o Group liked the script “Hello, 911. Is this a fire, health, police, or mental health
emergency?”
▪ Maybe add more questions into the script to engage correct response to
emergency.
o If a 911 caller is African American/Black, there is an element of fear/hesitation because
of the unknown of who will respond to the call.
▪ “Sometimes the product doesn’t match the model.”
▪ “The standard is not the standard.” The level of standard should always be
rising.
Salt Lake City Racial Equity and Policing Commission
Listening Session –Utah Black Chamber of Commerce
March 18, 2021
Attendees:two participants from the Utah Black Chamber
Objectives: - reviewed
- Understand the concerns and aspirations of those who have had interactions with the Salt Lake
City Police Department, particularly communities of color, and key stakeholders interested in the
work of the Racial Equity in Policing Commission.
- Provide and hold space for an honest dialogue and candid feedback for the Commission.
- Solicit advice and innovation from community in formulating solutions.
- Ensure that Commission recommendations reflect community values and dynamics.
Discussion Agreements: - reviewed
-Open-mindedness:Listen to all points of view
-Acceptance:Suspend judgment as best you can
-Curiosity:Seek to understand rather than persuade
-Discovery:Question old assumptions, look for new insights
-Sincerity:Speak for yourself about what has personal heart and meaning
-Brevity:Go for honesty and depth but don’t go on and on
-Respect:Focus on issues rather than individuals.
Generalized Agenda
1) Facilitator’s Introduction (3 min) - reviewed
a. Why we’re here
b. Facilitator’s role
c. Objectives of session
d. Commitment of anonymity
2) Intro of Commissioner(s), statement of their goals/interests in the session (5 min)
Commissioner heard concerns from officers that the Commission’s work is attempting to
change the scale. The Commission wasn’t established to limit the Police Department’s (PD)
function, but rather understand their process. Commission hopes to cure concerns of where
money will be removed, and focus on where funding is needed.
The Commissioners are an advisory body to suggest to the city what should happen. The
Commission is about making the PD work best for all of SLC.
3) Brief intros of participants—what brought them to session, what do they hope to get out of
experience (5 min)
4) Review of Commission’s mandate (2 min) – reviewed
Overview of facilitators, commission.
Review of webpage – City commission page; REP page
5)When you hear the phrase “racial equity in policing” in the context of your community of
Salt Lake City, what comes to mind?
a. Multiple things, the first being that it’s odd. It’s very odd that we put police that
aren’t from a particular area or neighborhood to police that area or neighborhood.
When we’re looking at a difference in culture between the neighborhoods near me
(Glendale) vs South Jordan, it’s a very clear difference between who lives in both of
those neighborhoods. Someone who doesn’t understand how that particular group
may interact with one another. If they don’t understand, they may police incorrectly.
There’s a cultural divide and lack of understanding between different subgroups and
how they behave. There’s a lack of investigation and we go on the offensive. That’s
what they’re trained to do in some ways. If you add more people of color to that
police department, or training, or the right people from those neighborhoods
policing those neighborhoods, they’d police more appropriately.
Are officers more likely to respond with suspicion/make an arrest?
●Yes. A couple of years ago, in Saratoga Springs Darien Hunt, dressed for
Comic Con, had a fake wand that looked very real. Someone called the cops
and said we’re terrified, what is that person doing with that sword. He was
not attended to properly.
●Another incident, a 13-year old white boy with Autism (Linden Cameron).
This is a child. If we could approach this by, knowing this child is autistic,
coming from that angle, my approach needs to be different. If there was
some training to identify those kind of things – if the police were working in
that particular neighborhood, you might be a little more in the know. You’d
have seen that child. We don’t understand the cultural and social
implications that make up a particular neighborhood and without that
understanding, we can’t provide the right type of treatment. When
interactions are not based on fully-able-bodied cisgender white male
[experiences], everything else is different.
●My husband is white, but if he’s in the car and I’m driving with him in the
car, no problems. Never get stopped, never get ticketed. Use [white]
privilege for good – it works.
Once upon a time, an interracial couple would be stopped simply for being
interracial.
●I don’t think any of that has changed, especially with the depiction from
Hollywood’s perspective. Laying out how the black experience should be or
the black definition …If I cast all black actors in a black film, am I targeting a
black audience, or am I trying to tell the story of a black individual to
everyone. Hollywood is terrible with their depiction. When you break down
racial equity, privilege is in that carrier. There is no equity for Black people as
far as treatment. I’m from an era when it was illegal to date or marry a white
woman.
●When I look at equity in policing, it’s so far off scale that it’s crazy. Black
people are created so different in a traffic stop, in a detainment,
interrogation/”questioning” – it’s unreal.
●The other day, I read at a museum exhibit, “do you think just because
Obama was elected president, that things have shifted?” I don’t. Politics play
a huge role in racial inequity in the depiction of blacks. The power structure
between the rich and the poor – pure example right now with the pandemic.
The rich are fighting over power why the rest of us basically die. When we
look at racial equity, it’s like Utah: 2% black – that’s how I gauge racial equity
in America.
Have you lived places other than Utah/SLC?
●Cleveland. Hard place to come up. Detroit, Florida. From Colorado.
●Bronx
What if any comparisons/contrasts would you draw between SLC and elsewhere?
●SLC is behind the clock on a lot of things. First came here the first time in
2020, it was slow. No division between church and state; church runs the
state. Maybe 1.5% Black population. You could see the division between the
races. Blacks aren’t taken as serious and their needs and conditions aren’t
examined as closely as other nationalities who “contribute more”
economically to Salt Lake, like the Hispanic presence in UT which gives
[Latinx community members] a bigger opportunity to define/dictate
experiences.
●From the Bronx. Growing up, we knew who our cops were and they lived in
our neighborhoods. If they didn’t, you kinda know. It happens here as well –
cops will be called to a particular home, say it’s a Latino home and there’s a
party, that can escalate really quickly. Growing up it was like, “just turn that
off. We don’t want to come back here, just letting you know.” It wasn’t as
aggressive as things I’ve seen here. I’ve seen it treated very differently with
Hispanic parties in Glendale compared to rowdy college parties at the
university. Differences based on not just stereotypes but lack of
understanding on how that culture references itself or shows up.
●We’re telling people show up as your real self and we want to celebrate that,
but if people do that, we’ll criminalize it. The best way to show up is to
assimilate. What am I supposed to do, if I’m upset? Someone who didn’t
grow up with people like me think my loud voice, emphatic gestures, are
aggressive. It’s used as justification to push assimilation.
●If my husband were to tell me to calm down when I’m [being emphatic] I’d
be more upset! At that’s the normal reaction. It doesn’t calm people down,
it does the opposite. If we learn to recognize that and then learn other
methods to deescalate, we wouldn’t be asking people to assimilate and we
wouldn’t be getting into this type of trouble
Officers who look like the community/are from a particular area – what do you
think is critical for the department/city to do to recruit people to the department
who could be protecting the neighborhoods they live in, like Glendale? What
would attract a more diverse crowd?
●we already know how to do it – we do it in the rural communities because it
is so difficult to travel to those communities so it’s often just easier to hire
someone there. Part of that is an educational approach, like any other job.
You have a Rose Park taqueria, more often than not it’s people who live in
that area. It’s people who know what is needed, very familiar with the
pizza/taco/whatever is needed in the neighborhood. Same thing – if you’re
hiring someone for a particular role, you have to say exactly what it is and
put a requirement, like “looking for someone who lives within this
mileage/radius.” We tell people at our business, we don’t hire outside a
20-mile radius. Specifically because we want to provide jobs within the
westside of SLC and Tooele Co. If we can do it as a company, PD can do that
too.
●Companies are doing community engagement and diversity training.
Community engagement goes a long way because if you need to recruit
outside, you introduce people who come into our environment to the
community, but you have to make a concerted effort,
●We have a team dedicated to onboarding those people into the community
and get to know what UT is like. Go on trips, go to events, meet with
community organizations. Trainings like “understanding UT culture”
●PD needs to get more involved in areas they want to put officers in or recruit
from – partner with minority organizations who offer them access to
demographics they’re targeting.
●PD has never approached UBC. Chamber has set up at least six job fairs – PD
has never played a role, reached out, or tried to access those resources to
hire minorities or connect with candidate pool.
●The Chief holds everyone accountable and does a great job, and so does the
Assistant Chief. But if we’re going to say we need diversity, then we need to
go get it.
●The reality is: the Police know. They know! I’ve worked with them before.
I’ve worked with a past Mayor’s campaign. During a homelessness and drug
user initiative, a PD representative come up and spewed all kinds of
different stereotypes about the Latinx community, Hondurans selling drugs
to vulnerable Utahns – in other words, these minorities are making the
white folks sick. That’s bad rhetoric. Those present, including me, State
representatives and community advocates, called it out. We need to work
together to eliminate these stereotypes that negatively impact how we
interact. The Chief agreed, but never did it. You know you have a
responsibility, you know these things exist. You’ve been told as long as I’ve
been in this work, and you’re not implementing it.
●Dad said, if I ask you once, I’m asking you. Twice, reminding you. Three
times, I’m begging you. SLCPD talks a good game, but nothing ever gets
done until there’s friction. When there’s friction, everything is a priority and
under a microscope. Everything was fine until the protests got violent.
●Utahns Against Police Brutality started in 2013 out in the streets, doing this
work right at the PD building, then federal building. You can’t say you don’t
know what to do when there are so many articles. My family used to be so
worried about my life because my work protesting in the streets, worried I
would get shot. They already know how to change. I’ve been saying this for a
long time and I’m not the only one. We’re begging you and you just don’t
want to listen.
Training – what do you want police officers to learn they’re either not learning or
not learning effectively
●Mental health is a big issue.
●Unconscious bias training doesn’t do enough. It just says, “there are biases.”
●Officers need to be leaders in our community, respected in our community –
need to be able to look at it that way.
●Why is any type of diversity work important in policing – that’s just a
baseline to get us to an understanding of why diversity is even important.
Then we can do these trainings and crucial listening things. They’re
important but not as much as certification on mental health issues, doing a
deep dive into pitfalls and privileges we hold and how to understand
communities we serve. Everyone should have something that speaks to that
community. You shouldn’t go into a community without knowing who they
are and privileges and biases they hold. Just a baseline – we do it in the
corporation world all the time.
●Beyond de-escalation, how do we effectively communicate with someone,
especially in an intense situation? Like example of husband saying, ‘calm
down’ – it’s demeaning. At home, we reframe with our families to
deescalate and communicate better. They need to do that out in the
community.
●We need empathetic/inclusive leadership training. That gets to the heart of
people. Everyone likes to hear that they’re a leader – it makes you feel good,
like you’re not just performing a job. This is something near and dear to
their heart. How do you improve as a leader in your community?
●We need to educate people in how to be better allies – how are you [police
officer] an ally to that community? Deepen your understanding of the
community, its diversity and values. Now you understand where you stand
in this community. How do you help them understand you don’t just want to
send them to jail or murder them, but be there for them in their times of
need?
Have there been moments where you’ve said to yourself, if that’s what they’re being told to do, they
shouldn’t do it – policies that need to be changed?
●Closest I’ve gotten is intimidation. 5 years ago, joined a group out of University of Utah doing
homeless outreach by the Road Home. They would bring all types of items and lunch food
because Catholic Community Services is closed on Sundays. I would see police intimidate the
group bringing food and try to get them kicked out under pretext they needed a specific license.
Asked former mayor about this, learned that policy was eliminated at the beginning of the year.
The next weekend, PD tried to stop the group. I spoke up about talking to Mayor about policy
change, PD pushed back, attitude changed after verifying relationship with Mayor. Shouldn’t
intimidate people or use the badge privilege to lie/deceive/dismiss.
During Public Listening session, there were comments about speed with which the Police respond to
unhoused people inside businesses. Are there other particular issues in what you’d expect relating to
PD protecting you/your business?
●We don’t generally have individuals coming in. Honestly, one of our pillars includes treating
everyone as an equal. Part of that is, hey, if you feel uncomfortable, ask a person to leave, if not,
ask PD. Goal is to not escalate to assault on the premises – take it outside would be the
expectation. Want Police to be responsive, protect and serve.
●Saw story of a woman, not in Utah, at her business. A white male came in for services from this
Black-owned business. He attempted to pull out a gun to harm these individuals because he
wasn’t receiving the services he felt entitled to receive after being told to leave multiple times. I
thought it was really sad that in the 911 call, the woman business owner was saying “this is
happening, we can’t get this person out of here. I want to reiterate my husband is black, but he’s
the owner. He’s not the person assaulting” I think that speaks to the fear that we now have – it’s
really sad we have to do that. It’s very possible the businesses in our community, even in a
dangerous situation, might not be as prone to calling for help. We had a couple businesses just
last month receive multiple calls harassing the businesses, someone saying they’ll show up,
making threats – businesses called the Chamber not knowing who to call, not sure the police
would protect the business owners because of how they look. Without proper training,
communities are left to deal with this on their own because they can’t trust the police to come
protect and serve.
●Utah’s a whole different animal. Different from other places I’ve been/encountered. Just gotta
keep to the grindstone, keep working to make change here. Keep telling the story, amend certain
parts here as we keep telling it.
Facilitator: would be happy to meet again if you thought there was another opportunity, maybe in
tandem with an already-scheduled meeting/event.
Chamber would love to signal boost SLCREP – requested follow up with messaging they could use to
email/social media promote opportunities to weigh in via the website.
Salt Lake City Racial Equity and Policing Commission
Listening Session – Native American and Indigenous groups
June 23 2021
Attendees:
Member of the Navajo nation
Law practitioner; worked with Navajo nation; professor of American Indian Studies
What attendees hope to get from this
- Share what has been learned from work in their communities
- Get caught up on what’s happening so far
- Learn what commission is doing, about recommendations
- Prove perspective on those recommendations.
Feedback on SRO recommendations
- Question – is recommendation that SROs are handling issues that could be handled
by school administration a liability consideration? To facilitator’s understanding, this
is more about the officer-student dynamic
o Do SROs receive counseling training? If they aren’t trained in that, even
beneficially providing that service can be a liability
o Are current SROs required to take anti-bias training to reduce stereotypes
against students of color.
- Participant shared experience as a parent when child first went to middle school.
Child reported first time seeing an SRO caught her off guard. Mother suggested
asking SRO’s name and introducing herself, advised child that it’s good to know who
you can turn to if students are in harm’s way. Repeated advice when child went to
high school; same advice to younger child. Recommended developing a good
relationship with the SRO, which can also improve relationship between SROs and
other students of color.
- A big concern is if SROs are not receiving training – if asked to do something you
aren’t trained, you might do more harm than good.
- Suggest reaching out to Kayley Richards with the Utah Board of Juvenile Justice,
who worked on HB 239 re juvenile justice reforms. Included providing training
throughout the state.
o Dr. Procero? (Potentially Commissioner Prospero?) At U of U, who is lead in
implementing this training statewide. Not sure where SLC school district is on
this. Separate training for school administrators on when it’s appropriate to
bring SRO in; vice versa on when SROs need school guidance
o Utah Board of Juvenile Justice - Kayley Richards - ktrichards@utah.gov
- Chuck (Dr. Foster) would be helpful in this conversation as well.
o Dr. Harold (Chuck) Foster
Education Specialist (State Board of Education,Title VI, American Indian
Salt Lake City Racial Equity and Policing Commission
Listening Session – LatinX & Hispanic
June 22, 2021
Attendees: At the beginning of the meeting there were 5 community members. One
experienced audio difficulty and dropped out and another could only stay a few minutes. By the
end, only three members remained and provided feedback/comment. There was also one
foreign government representative.
School Safety
• How is efficacy in school safety measured?
o Who and how do we evaluate that data? It has to be tied to the actual work. Who
collects/reports it? SD and PD need to work together on these solutions.
• Frustration of PD response at scene, community fears their reaction – need efficacy,
would aide in feedback infrastructure.
• Want to see more feedback from parents and families.
Peer Court
Education)
Phone: (801) 538-7838 | E-mail
Training recommendations
-Positive feedback – recommendations are spot on
- One participant shared a story of an EMT in Magna who trains responders for disaster
situations, who has been asking for groups of people of color who would like to participate in
this training. EMTs who are not people of color tend to go to other white people first. Important
to get people used to people of color. Important to offer training like that with people of color.
- Commissioner shared how her participation and vulnerability sharing specific examples from
her experience helped foster understanding of shared/generational trauma for the Training
subcommittee.
Policy and Practice Recommendations
- Commissioner shared experience as boarding school survivor, and how parent
taught children to hide if encountering law enforcement officer (LEO). Physiological
effects persist to date.
- Requested more information on civilian response, a la Denver Star. Staff to follow
up.
o Staff compilation of mental health response programs, presented to the City
Council September 2020
https://www.slcdocs.com/council/agendas/2020agendas/September/15WS/A
3_Informational_UpdatesonRacialEquityandPolicing.pdf
- City might consider – if this civilian response goes out, are they acting on behalf of
the City and something goes wrong, if they do something outside normal acceptable
training, who is liable? What recourse would victim’s families have, if there’s no
formal liability identification?
o Staff note: City Dispatch has a new agreement with the University of Utah’s
mental health crisis line
- Developing some type of community policing program – understanding of that
practice is that it focuses on relationships within communities, helps build trust and
helps officers understand norms within those communities.
o Share details on what has officially been put into place and what’s been
explored.
What might have been missed entirely?
- Sense is that this is going in the right direction. Trainers from different backgrounds
may be able to provide firsthand experiences with law enforcement.
- Collaboration with State: Multicultural Affairs; Board of Juvenile Justice
o Nubia Pena, Director, Division of Multicultural Affairs - npena@utah.gov
- Tribes have their own law enforcement – could be helpful to see what they’re doing
to improve relationships in tribal areas, towns near reservations. Could already be
solutions in place that would be helpful.
- Mo Smith with Urban Indian Center in SLC
- Recommend including Rozanna Benally-Sagg with Governor’s Multicultural Affairs
Office, particularly for the Urban Native perspective in SLC proper
Preliminary Findings: REP Commission May 19 Listening Session
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
84010 84047 84101 84102 84104 84105 84107 84108 84111 84115 84116 84131
ZipCodes of participants
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%
African
American Indian or Alaska Native
Hispanic/Latino/Chicano
Other Race/Ethnicity
White
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
Black or African American
Race/Ethnicity
Other Responses:
Resources for mental health and addiction recovery
Increase in funding.
More mental health workers and fewer police
Policing culture
Cultural changes within the department
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%
Training
Policies and Practices
School Safety
Other
What do you most want the Racial Equity in
Policing Commission to help change?
What else should the Training subcommittee know?
Trainers need to be from the neighborhood people that know the inns and the outs in the nuances of
the community
I particularly appreciate the recommendation that trainers themselves need to be diverse and
representative of the community
I would like to know more about how the training will promote Racial Equity
Training must be paired with accountability for consistent and sustainable behavior change
I believe that we need more officers than what we are coming up with for helping defuse mental
health situations we also need more social workers
Please train these folks by including citizens opinion
Thank you so much for your time and commitment to our community
Focus on ongoing efforts in the mix with point in time trainings as change takes time
I'd like them trained to do their job without firearms
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
Very good Good Neutral/Unsure Not great Very concerning
What are your thoughts on the
recommendations from the Training
subcommittee?
What else should the Policies and Practices subcommittee know?
What about 911 dispatchers? Are they being trained to gather information to relay to police
What are you doing to stop officers from profiling black and blown people while driving? My husband
is black and is pulled over disproportionately for th
what about a CTR type training?
I believe that's what the caller was referring to
Were there any findings that changed your personal views?
I'd like the REP commission to also look at the calls made to 911 by the public and if there are ways
that calls for service which may be themselves based in racism can be weeded out by dispatch.
Will the bias assessment be required and lead decision-making in the application process for
prospective officers AND performance reviews of existing officers?
Great work to the committee. Thank you.
Is there thought to taking infractions out of police purview? Like traffic stops and things like that?
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
Very good Good Neutral/Unsure Not great Very concerning
What are your thoughts on the
recommendations from the Policies and
Procedures subcommittee?
What else should the School Safety subcommittee know?
In a predominate white state and even school environment, having SRO is what makes many young
people of color uncomfortable. This had not only been seen in high school, but students of color are
also against that in higher education. There are better ways to address people rather than just placing
SRO
Involve students in decisions about who their SRO will be and how they are asked to interact with
students, to determine what will impact positive change
The issue is less the officers at the schools but that the school administration is using them improperly
and calling on them to do things they shouldn't.
Police shouldn't be in schools. Why not the mental health workers instead?
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Very good Good Neutral/Unsure Not great Very concerning
What are your thoughts on the
recommendations from the School Safety
subcommittee?
Telephone Comments (transcribed):
1) Okay, thank you, before my question, given the salt lake valley has always been a gathering
place for the indigenous peoples we acknowledge that this land which name for the youth tribe
is the traditional ancestral homelands, of the shoshone tribe and is the crossroads for. All of the
turtle island native nomads and indigenous settlers we stand in solidarity with our brothers and
sisters who are displaced Africans, Asians and recognize that Asian Pacific islander heritage
month is this month, and we also stand in solidarity and and with the Palestinians and
condemned the actions of the Israelis. My question is a bit of a twofold now that i've heard
some of the policies in because I just want to get some clarity on that listening session we were
just in. What my concern is is, these are trainings for the future, and is there a place that this
curriculum is made public as to how the training will be informed by the curriculum. What data,
what sort of is where yeah can we see the curriculum, so that the public may review it. Rather
than just because I think that's something that's important that the Community, be able to.
bring some feedback into that sort of policy and making i'm curious is officers are currently
excuse me i'm My tmj is affecting how I speak today. Is officers know qpr training and the
reason I asked this is because the majority of Much of the response and what we're seeing in
our communities is that responses to neuro divergent. People often ends in the centrality and
i'm curious if they're aware that qpr exists and to utilize those qpr tactics before responding
when it with anything other than less than lethal for someone like that. kind of what i'm tying
into that question is the recent clips of the Swedish officers that were tourists in New York City
and amongst the four of them, they were able to break up a violent fight that. With their
techniques of de escalation managed to. subdue those men, without any harm, like any fatal
harm to them, and it seems like it was quite easy technique to execute and that there was some
significant training for them to all be so coordinated, even on their personal time.
2) yeah Thank you, you had mentioned that a certain percentage of calls to police work for mental
health issues, I wonder what the criteria are that you use to make that determination and if
those are criteria you use when the call comes in, or only after it's been responded to thank you
3) Okay um so i'm a 40 year old one, almost 42 year old students have. an incredibly diverse
school district in Dallas Texas, which was predominantly black and Brown. And we had a was
Carter high school and I can tell you from my personal experience. That was a little over two
decades ago. As sorrows only represented forces antagonism and a sense of internalized racism
that perpetuates quite a lot of the bias that we see. That that are associated with as sorrows
within the black and brown school systems and how a lot of those racist ideologies seep in and
affect the quality of care and the quality of safety that our children have and the protections of
a checklist policing. With that just simply can't be met without a cultural understanding of how
we correct our youth and how elders within the Multi economies. Of of communities that exist
here how we call in our youth and how we correct our youth. And how this way is not the way
for children, children should not be policed children should not go to school in and fear this
authoritarian influence around them and instill so they can get a quality education. And I
disagree with having a sorrows as being a child of a family of several generations of students
who've passed through the SRO system only to experience how much of my family had been
affected by it. Because they were sucked in by that vortex of the school to prison pipeline, of
having friends people I love who go to prison. For you know youthful folly that ends up being
criminalized because there's an SRO officer there's an SRO rather than an elder right or. Not um
and it bothers me that you don't have K PR and that that sorrow officers who are in our schools
in a state that has such highest. numbers of youth self harm and you've completion that you
don't have officers that are qpr trained. it's it's it's disturbing to note that this is the first time
you're hearing of it when it's existed for quite a while. And i'm wondering why there seems to
be quite a lot of reinvention of processes when there's already good stuff that works out there
right and why that just not simply being incorporated in that current training. modalities it's
just, we need to keep our kids safe and COP have no business in our school. Maybe surrounding
perimeters and and that sort of thing, but we need to have a. You know, principles and you
know ways of being able to de escalate, even in like I said in the most dangerous situations, so
the evidence that we can do that to do want to.
Comment from Spanish line:
(Diego Munoz)(Salt Lake City)() There’s not security at RosePark school, we’d like to see a police officer
there watching the kids.
Facebook comments: to be provided by staff
REPSLC Survey
Name
Response
Rubina Halwani
Tawnya Keller
Benjamin Petrie
Connor Arrington
Lynn A Hanson
Steve Woodall
Angelica
Brian
Anonymous
Jon Chu
Moni Candia
Venis Marie Weaver
Justin Merrill
Gayle Dawes
John Allen Shaw
Janet K. Cook
Gretchen Krebs
Answered 17
Skipped 3
Policies and Practices
Can we agree that any police officer with 17+ "excessive use of force complaints" (like Derek
Chauvin) should be dismissed from the force and prevented from serving in other jurisdictions?
How many officers would be ousted?
I am a liberal Democrat living on the West Side of Salt Lake. I am all for police reform and
holding bad cops accountable, but the whole mayor in city council approach about hands off
the homeless and de-funding the place is ridiculous. I called 911 I said your call will be
answered in the order was received. We should not defund the place we should actually give
them more money for diversity training and the independent investigation team that has
nothing to do with the police force.
(1 of 2) It is not the case that 1 bad apple spoils the bunch, be it police officers or any other
groups of people, that is an unfair generalization. Cops risk their lives daily to keep us safe, and
SLCPD needs resources, recognition and respect so they can do their jobs, and also get training
to address community concerns.
(2 of 2) In RP/FP, I am saddened to see homeless camps, drug activity on North Temple, stolen
vehicles, trespassers, a trashed Jordan River Trail, gang houses w/ bullets fired into the air; it
really comes off like the city is neglecting the area, & cops can't do their jobs effectively.
We must empower the community & create change, but we also have to empower SLCPD,
else we will continue to lose good cops, our property values will decline and you'll lose residents
to bordering neighborhoods.
I would suggest adopting policies and training procedures that have worked in other places—
the texts KUER series, Mountain West News Bureau series "Elevated Risk," a project powered by
America Amplified, had some very good reporting. Expanding the focus of police to
deesculation and as a link to other social services would be a good direction.
This past weekend, I witnessed a horrific & brutal police response to a women who was
suicidal!! My neighbors & I were appalled by the way the police drug the distraught women
down our hall, hitting her head on the wall, which caused bleeding & tasing her more than
3 times. The department needs to scrutinize each applicant; member of any hate groups, write-
ups for excessive force, signs of racism & lack of self-control.
SLCPD Training
We have a huge gang/drug issue in SLC, west of I-15 and in the Fairpark/Rose Park/Poplar Grove
area. I bought in Rose Park to raise my baby daughters (we moved from New York), but if the
neighborhood doesn't improve, I'll sell and move somewhere where it's safer. I see many
complaints about teens firing guns into the air, theft and petty gang things that need to be
addressed with a hard hand.
None. They are already well trained they just have 0 leadership. That's why so many officers
that can are leaving. I'm so excited my loved one will be leaving soon and won't miss the
Hitleresc mayor and city council. Also, wondering how much taxpayer dollars were wasted on
the bikini top masks when people are going hungry.
SLCPD officers need Procedural Justice training to improve their interactions in the community.
You can read the report of a random sample, controlled study showing how Procedural Justice
training reduced police officers' use of force in the field:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1745-9133.12337
School Safety
Students/children should not be treated as criminals. They should not feel that they are not
safe. Security officers should be only against an outside threat.
Untitled
Activity count 11
Participant count 28
Average responses 10.09091
What part of Salt Lake City do you live or work in?Activity type Multiple choice
Total responses 16
Unique participants 16
Response options Count Percent
Sugarhouse 4 25
Downtown/Central City 3 18.75
Glendale/Poplar Grove 1 6.25
Rosepark/NW Quadrant 1 6.25
Liberty Wells 2 12.5
Avenues/University/East Bench 2 12.5
I don't live in Salt Lake City 3 18.75
What is your race or ethnicity?Activity type Multiple choice
Total responses 17
Unique participants 17
Response options Count Percent
American Indian or Alaska Native 0 0
Black or African American 3 17.65
African 0 0
Hispanic, Latino, Chicano 5 29.41
Middle Eastern 0 0
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 2 11.76
Southeast Asian 0 0
White 6 35.29
Other Race, Ethnicity 1 5.88
What do you most want the Racial Equity in
Policing Commission to help change?Activity type Multiple choice
Total responses 19
Unique participants 19
Response options Count Percent
Training 5 26.32
Policies and Practices 12 63.16
School Safety 2 10.53
Other 0 0
What else should the Racial Equity in Policing
Commission be focused on changing?Activity type Open ended
Total responses 5
Unique participants 5
Responses
Resources for mental health and addiction
Increase in funding.
More mental health workers and fewer police
Policing culture
Cultural changes within the department
What are your thoughts on the recommendations
from the Training subcommittee?Activity type Multiple choice
Total responses 15
Unique participants 15
Response options Count Percent
Very good 7 46.67
Good 2 13.33
Neutral/Unsure 3 20
Not great 2 13.33
Very concerning 1 6.67
What else should the Training subcommittee
know?Activity type Open ended
Total responses 9
Unique participants 8
Responses
Trainers need to be from the neighborhood
people that know the inns and the outs in the
I particularly appreciate the recommendation that
trainers themselves need to be diverse and
representative of the community
I would like to know more about how the training
will promote Racial Equity
Training must be paired with accountability for
consistent and sustainable behavior change
I believe that we need more officers than what
we are coming up with for helping defuse mental
health situations we also need more social
Please train these folks by including citizens
Thank you so much for your time and
commitment to our community
Focus on ongoing efforts in the mix with point in
time trainings as change takes time
I'd like them trained to do their job without
What are your thoughts on the recommendations
from the Policies and Procedures subcommittee?Activity type Multiple choice
Total responses 8
Unique participants 8
Response options Count Percent
Very good 3 37.5
Good 2 25
Neutral/Unsure 2 25
Not great 1 12.5
Very concerning 0 0
What else should the Policies and Practices
subcommittee know?Activity type Open ended
Total responses 9
Unique participants 7
Responses
What about 911 dispatchers? Are they being
trained to gather information to relay to police
What are you doing to stop officers from
profiling black and blown people while driving?
My husband is black and is pulled over
what about a CTR type training?
I believe that's what the caller was referring to
Were there any findings that changed your
I'd like the REP commission to also look at the
calls made to 911 by the public and if there are
ways that calls for service which may be
themselves based in racism can be weeded out
Will the bias assessment be required and lead
decision-making in the application process for
prospective officers AND performance reviews of
Great work to the committee. Thank you.
Is there thought to taking infractions out of
police purview? Like traffic stops and things like
c
What are your thoughts on the recommendations
from the School Safety subcommittee?Activity type Multiple choice
Total responses 7
Unique participants 7
Response options Count Percent
Very good 4 57.14
Good 1 14.29
Neutral/Unsure 0 0
Not great 0 0
Very concerning 2 28.57
What else should the School Safety subcommittee
know?Activity type Open ended
Total responses 4
Unique participants 4
Responses
In a predominate white state and even school
environment, having SRO is what makes many
young people of color uncomfortable. This had
not only been seen in high school, but students
of color are also against that in higher education.
Involve students in decisions about who their
SRO will be and how they are asked to interact
with students, to determine what will impact
The issue is less the officers at the schools but
that the school administration is using them
improperly and calling on them to do things they
Police shouldn't be in schools. Why not the
mental health workers instead?
What else should the Racial Equity in Policing
Commission know?Activity type Open ended
Total responses 2
Unique participants 2
Responses
Integration!
coffee
SLC Text Survey Comments
I had one experience with a policeman in spring 2020, he pulled me over for speeding, he was
kind and gave me a warning. The other experience has been through friend’s Instagram video
stories during the 2020 summer protest, seeing police running at peacefu l-unarmed protesters
in live video freaked me out. One of my friends son was also injured by police and had to go to
the hospital.
I've never been in a situation where a police officer has helped me. I have, however, been pulled
over several times by the same officer on the same stretch of road for incredibly minor
infractions; perhaps a financial quota was about due. Cops have never prevented my property
from being vandalized, my possessions from being stolen, my car broken into, or myself from
being harassed, nor did any police interaction from said event amount to any compensation of
any kind; merely a waste of time. Cops don't prevent the vast majority of crime. Defund the
police and invest in community resources
My biracial son, half East Indian, half white has been stopped multiple times as he was walking
home from school or a friend’s house by cops and asked what he is doing in the neighborhood
where he lives. I have sought the advice of my lawyer and I am prepared for future racial
profiling. I am d isgusted, disappointed, and wholly unsurprised that this is the relationship law
enforcement is developing with my son as he enters adolescence. Of course there needs to be
robust diversity training. I'm glad the commission wants to make improvements, but I don't
understand why it's putting the question to the public. Was the intensity of the Black Lives
Matter protests in SLC IN 2020 insufficient evidence that communities of color in our state have
a problematic relationship with police at BEST, and deadly at WORST? Was that not an
expression of public opinion? It bothers me that the question is being treated as though it
remains unanswered. No doubt there will be an array of responses including many that will say
it is unnecessary or it does no good. Does the commission intend to give weight to those
opinions with such a cloud of evidence that the policing of communities of color in the state is
faulty and inadequate?
How do you think school resource officers should improve school safety?
School staff need s to take care of routine discipline. SROs should only be involved when there is
criminal activity. Reduce the number of kids in the school to prison pipeline. Efforts to do that
are not just the responsibility of the police. School staff and parents must also play a role.
Stop working at schools. SRO’s only contribute to the school -to-prison pipeline
What else would you like the Racial Equity in Policing Commission to know?
No one in this commission should have ties to the police in my opinion to avoid bias
DEFUND. THE. POLICE.