SLC Mayor Meets With Racial Equity In Policing Commission Following Recommendations
Mar 9, 2021, 10:07 PM | Updated: Mar 10, 2021, 11:43 pm
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Salt Lake City Racial Equity in Policing Commission released its first set of recommendations last week, and Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall invited the public to voice their suggestions and opinions.
On Tuesday, a Salt Lake City Police Department spokesperson told KSL they have started applying the recommendations and are in the process of getting all officers up to date on crisis intervention training or CIT. It is now required for new recruits.
The report really zeroed in on the police department and analyzed how things were being done. One thing the commission found was some gaps in the training, and some of the findings were new to Mendenhall.
#SLC’s Racial Equity in Policing Commission has developed its first set of recommendations for @slcpd.
Thank you to the commission and community for taking this effort so seriously and to @slcpd for being an engaged partner. More on the recommendations: https://t.co/R8hsvNnKD0 pic.twitter.com/gxpkHDNgh3
— Mayor Erin Mendenhall (@slcmayor) March 3, 2021
This is a big topic because of the case last year where a 13-year-old boy with autism was shot by a Salt Lake City police officer.
The report noted 189 SLC police officers whose CIT licenses expired after two years — 41% — chose to recertify, while 272 have yet to complete their recertification.
Officers previously weren’t required to get recertified — but a department spokesperson said they’ve already changed that to make sure everyone is staying up to date with the training.
Including officers who transfer into the department.
“I think it’s a no-brainer as we can expect the same thing, the same kind of outcomes and same kind of engagement from all of Salt Lake City’s police department,” Mendenhall said. “We need to give them those trainer tools in order to do so.”
This is only the first set of recommendations. Residents can expect to see more of them and will hear about them once it comes time for budget talks in April.
Mendenhall also wants people to know that they can voice their suggestions and opinions to the commission. Information on their meetings can be found on the city’s website.
