LEHI, Utah, April 12, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — The Lehi City Police Department has released a statement about an April 2 high-risk traffic stop of a vehicle that was believed to be stolen, but was not.
Police guns were drawn, and vehicle occupants, including a child, were detained for about 20 minutes until officers realized they had made a mistake, says the news release issued by Chief Darren Paul, Lehi City Police Department.
On that Sunday, an LCPD officer received an alert from the National Crime Information Center after running a license plate of a vehicle they were following, Paul’s news release says.
“The alert was that the vehicle was possibly stolen. The officer requested confirmation from Dispatch as to the status of the plates, and was advised they were indeed stolen,” the release says.
“The officer, acting in good faith based on the confirmation provided by the dispatcher, waited for other officers to arrive, and performed a high-risk vehicle stop on the vehicle, calling each adult out of the vehicle individually and temporarily detaining them while the matter was investigated.”
Although a child was in the vehicle, “they were not called out of the vehicle. The child was retrieved from the vehicle by officers,” the chief’s statement says. “Though routine protocol is to have guns pointed toward a vehicle during a high risk vehicle stop, guns were put down while approaching and speaking to the child.”
Shortly after detaining the adults, officers learned that neither the plates nor the vehicle were stolen.
The news release shares no details on any specific actions by the officer that led to the mistake sparking the incident.
“The adults were released, and officers attempted to explain the situation and how it occurred,” the chief’s statement says. “The vehicle passengers left the scene in their vehicle. The duration of the incident was approximately 20 minutes.”
Paul said his department wants the public to know that “we stand by our officers and believe that given the knowledge officers had at the time, their decision to perform this type of vehicle stop was appropriate and consistent with training and nationally recognized practices, as well as Lehi City Police Department policies and procedures.
“As soon as officers confirmed that a minor child was the only remaining passenger, they immediately de-escalated their level of force and approached the vehicle with due care and weapons down. The child was immediately reunited with the father while officers completed their investigation.”
Paul’s statement called the mistaken stop “a rare and unfortunate incident that neither the department nor the officers involved take lightly.
“Everyone understands the inherent dangers of high risk stops. Given the information known to the officers at the time, a high-risk stop was the appropriate level of force, however an internal investigation into the incident revealed some areas where further training is warranted and will be initiated.”
