SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall shared a positive update to the city’s Public Safety Plan on Monday, saying the Salt Lake City Police Department has made 460 arrests since Jan. 12.
The 50-page Public Safety Plan, which Mendenhall introduced in mid-January, is aimed at reducing crime and addressing gaps in the criminal justice and homeless services systems. As part of the plan, Mendenhall said there would be regular reports of progress in order to hold the city and its partners accountable for public safety.
In the first such report, Salt Lake City announced 460 jail bookings, 337 citations, 42 guns seized, and 89 illegal camping citations issued. The SLCPD also reportedly recovered thousands of grams of concentrated THC, marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamine as well as over 1,500 fentanyl pills and over 650 THC cartridges.
“We clearly identified actions to improve public safety, and we’re taking them,” said Mayor Mendenhall. “I’m grateful to our officers and social workers who are helping enhance public safety at high-need areas around the Jordan River Trail, Ballpark neighborhood, and downtown core to ensure they’re safe and welcoming to all.”
Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown said the department has expanded its foot and bike patrols and increased “targeted investigations” to meet the demands of the public safety plan. Since the start of the new year, SLCPD reported it has conducted two successful two-day operations – one on the Jordan River Trail and another near the Main City Library.
SLCPD said its “aggressive approach” is using crime data to find focus areas and balancing social outreach with disrupting criminal activity.
“As part of our City’s Public Safety Plan, our officers have arrested fentanyl dealers, repeat offenders, and those in possession of illegal firearms, many of whom were already on probation or parole,” said Chief Brown. “We want to make it very clear, our officers are committed to protecting our residents, our businesses, and our city from crime.”
The City is reportedly working on a publicly available online dashboard to track the Public Safety Plan by providing data and metrics it says is “critical to addressing broader public safety efforts.”
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