Former SLC Police Chief Joins Policing Research Think Tank

Former SLC Police Chief Joins Policing Research Think Tank
Former SLC police chief Chris Burbank has taken a new job at the Center for Policing Equity. Photo: SLCPD

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – November 5, 2015 (Gephardt Daily) – Former Salt Lake City police chief Chris Burbank has accepted a job at the Center for Policing Equity as the organization’s director of law enforcement engagement.

Burbank will be responsible for managing relationships with law enforcement partners, leading CPE’s police review team, and extending the reach of the National Justice Database for the Los Angeles-based organization.

“I have always been interested and engaged in changing the dialogue about law enforcement, both within police departments and between departments and the communities they serve,” Burbank said. “This new position is an exciting opportunity to impact my profession in a meaningful way.”

Burbank was pushed to resign in June by Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker in the midst of a sexual-harassment case in the Salt Lake City Police Department.

The scandal erupted on June 11, when Burbank was given a ultimatum by Becker to read a letter of apology in public, resign, or be fired. Burbank stepped down the very same day.

Burbank served for four years as vice president of the Major Cities Chiefs Association and was selected as one of six police chiefs to meet with President Obama to discuss gun violence policy in America. He is also on the board of directors of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet), which was established by Congress to build the first high-speed, nationwide wireless broadband network for emergency and daily public safety communications.

Burbank will remain in Salt Lake City for this new role.

Dr. Phillip Atiba Goff and Dr. Tracie Keesee, project director for the National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice and a veteran of the Denver Police Department, established the Center for Policing Equity in 2008. Led by Dr. Goff and executive director Meredith Smiedt, CPE brings together law enforcement, a collaborative research team and communities to improve efficiency and fairness in policing through original research.

In 2012, CPE began building The National Justice Database, which is the first database to track police stop and use of force statistics nationwide. To date, departments responsible for more than one-third of the United States’ population have committed to participate.

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