The Salt Lake City Police Department have asked federal law enforcement to help stop an uptick in violent and property crimes.
Police Chief Mike Brown said at a Tuesday news conference the department is enlisting the U.S. attorney’s office, the U.S. Marshals Service, as well as the state’s Department of Public Safety, to arrest suspects in “high-risk, top-tier” crimes, and, he said, keep those people in jail longer so they don’t re-offend.
SLCPD data shows that violent crime increased 21% through 2020, compared to the year before, and was up more than 9% when compared to the five-year average. Property crimes were also up compared to 2019, but had decreased by nearly 3% compared to the five-year average.
Brown said that often his officers will arrest someone on suspicion of felony-level crimes and they’ll be out of jail within days or hours because of the county jail’s coronavirus response, but also because of “bail reform and no-bail issues.”
“This happens frequently enough that these repeat offenders have become known to our officers by name,” he said. “These offenders know there is no accountability for their criminal behavior.”
On Tuesday, Brown said that the department would begin working with state DPS agents to crack down on street racing, an activity he said had led to shootings, assaults and drug use. He said the U.S. Marshals have been brought in to arrest people with outstanding warrants. And the U.S. attorney’s office, he said, has agreed to prosecute many of these cases.
“Make no mistake,” Brown said, “we are united to bring criminals to justice and to bring justice for those that have been victimized. If you commit a crime in Salt Lake City, we will do everything in our power to hold you accountable.”
