SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Jan. 5, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown and Mayor Erin Mendenhall provided an update Wednesday on the city’s crime trends and released the patrol response times for December of 2021.
According to SLCPD statistics, overall crime in the city was down 5.4% from the first week in 2021 through Sunday, Dec. 26, 2021. In that same time, over the five-year-average, citywide crime dropped 1.3%.
In the latest CompStat report, issued Jan. 4, five of the seven city council districts saw a drop in both violent crime and property crime during the last seven days and the last 28 days.
“While that is great on paper, I know there are people and families in our community who don’t see crime improving,” Brown said.
“Take for example what happened on Dec. 26, 2021. In the middle of the afternoon, officers responded to an apartment complex that sits about 1,000 feet from an elementary school and a church. Our officers got on scene and found six bullet holes that pierced through two apartment units. Someone was home when those bullets ripped through one of the apartments, and we are incredibly lucky those rounds didn’t injure or kill someone. This is just one example of why we must keep doing everything we can to reduce crime,” Brown said,
“On paper, violent crime is down 10%, but for the family living in that apartment, crime — and the fear of future crime — is likely at an all-time high.”
Police data shows in the last 28 days, SLC saw a 33% increase in the number of weapon offenses.
Brown and Mendenhall also discussed improving response times, which is a goal of the department’s Revised Crime Control Plan.
“I’m happy to report that because of the heart and dedication of our officers, we are seeing that improvement happening,” Brown said.
In December 2021, the average response time for a Priority 1 call was 10 minutes and 46 seconds. That’s a two minute and 12 second improvement from November 2021 and an improvement of six minutes and 48 seconds from the department’s response times in August 2021.
The SLCPD’s CompStat and Analysis Unit generates a report every Monday.
CompStat is a performance management tool based on the goal of continuous improvement, the news release said. CompStat utilizes computer statistics and is a combination of management philosophy and organizational management tools
