The Utah Senate gave final approval Thursday to a bill that would allow immigrants who are legal residents to serve as police officers \u2014 a privilege to serve that s already allowed to immigrants in the military.
SALT LAKE CITY Gov. Spencer Cox says he isn t 100% on board with a bill backed by Utah s legislative leaders to rein in the governor s emergency powers in a long-term emergency like the COVID-19 pandemic, but he s vague on what he wants changed. There have been lots of changes made at our request, Cox told reporters during his monthly news conference with PBS Utah Thursday morning when asked about SB195. We will continue those negotiations, we ll do those privately, and when the final version of that bill comes out, we will let you know whether we support it or not, Cox said. I think that s the better way to negotiate these, and so we will continue to do that.
Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
SALT LAKE CITY A Utah bill to limit “no-knock” warrants that allow police to force entry into people’s homes without warning faltered in a legislative committee on Friday, struggling to find enough traction to clear its first legislative hurdle.
No-knock warrants have received nationwide scrutiny since the high-profile death of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman who was shot and killed after Louisville, Kentucky, police forced entry into her apartment during a botched raid.
Taylor’s death on March 13 along with George Floyd’s killing May 25 became a symbol for the nationwide movement calling for police reform and an end to racial injustice. In the wake of her killing, the Louisville Metro Council banned no-knock search warrants. So did the states of Virginia, Florida, Oregon, and at least 13 local governments or police departments.
Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
SALT LAKE CITY Week two of the 2021 Utah Legislature began with news that one Utah lawmaker is hospitalized with COVID-19 and two others tested positive for the disease.
Rep. Jon Hawkins, R-Pleasant Grove, has been hospitalized with the novel coronavirus after becoming ill before the session started Jan. 19. On Monday, Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, and Senate Budget Vice Chairman Don Ipson, R-St. George, both tested positive during rapid testing that is available to lawmakers and Capitol Hill staff.
Ipson tested negative Jan. 22 and remained in Salt Lake City over the weekend, but after testing positive on Monday, he returned to St. George.
Deseret News
Utah bill seeks to diversify police forces by allowing legal immigrant residents to serve
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Junior Enrique Sanchez
SALT LAKE CITY Junior Enrique Sanchez was in grade school when he and one of his classmates were sent to the school’s office not because they were in trouble, but because they didn’t have the right shoes to run track.
As a son of two immigrant parents from Mexico, track shoes weren’t in his family’s budget.
Sanchez was 2 years old when his family moved to Utah, after his father spent five years working on California farms, commuting back and forth across the border. He moved his family to Park City, where he found a job in the restaurant industry and built a life there to raise his kids in one of Utah’s more privileged cities.