Deseret News
Legislators laud reform bills, but activist says legislation fell short and will seek ballot initiatives
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Yukai Peng, Deseret News
SALT LAKE CITY To Lex Scott, founder of Black Lives Matter Utah, the Utah Legislature’s 2021 general session fell short of enacting real, meaningful police reform.
The Legislature this year approved a slew of measured bills some highly watered down, but many supported by community activists, minority community leaders and law enforcement officials to implement incremental changes to increase de-escalation training, collect more data on use-of-force incidents and clarify rules around use-of-force standards.
But Scott wasn’t at all satisfied.
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.
/ Last summer’s police brutality protests have led the Utah Legislature to consider around a dozen police reform bills.
A Utah House committee unanimously approved four bills Tuesday aimed at gathering more data about police use of force and strengthening the disciplinary processes for law enforcement.
The state Legislature is considering around a dozen police reform bills this session in the wake of last summer’s protests against police brutality.
Under a bill sponsored by Sen. Jani Iwamoto, D-Salt Lake City, law enforcement agencies must provide information about an open investigation into an officer’s conduct to another law enforcement agency that requests it during the hiring process.
SALT LAKE CITY Two bills with broader checks and transparency for police hit roadblocks Thursday, but others with more tempered approaches are advancing through the Utah Legislature.
The House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee held HB74, which would allow cities to create their own elected police oversight boards, and HB133, requiring release of body camera footage of incidents that result in death or bodily injury or whenever an officer fires a gun within 10 days.
But that same committee voted to favorably move to the full chamber several other more measured police reform bills, including SB38, which would require annual certification of police K-9s and their handlers, and HB59, which would criminally punish officers, prosecutors or others taking part of an investigation if they improperly share intimate images a bill inspired by former University of Utah police officer who showed explicit photos of slain student Lauren McCluskey to fellow officers.