A bill seeks to limit when police can use lethal force.
Rep. Jen Dailey-Provost, D-Salt Lake City, is sponsoring the legislation. It aims to prevent police from shooting someone having a suicidal crisis as long as they aren’t a threat to someone else.
Rae Duckworth, an activist with Black Lives Matter Utah, helped Dailey-Provost present the bill. Officer Garrett Safely killed Duckworth’s cousin, Bobby, in Carbon County in 2019. Safely was responding to a call about a suicidal man.
“If this [bill] was active prior to Sept. 10, 2019, it could have saved Bobby’s life and encouraged Officer Safely to utilize less than lethal options and take necessary steps to conserve a life,” Duckworth said.