SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Feb. 28, 2016 (Gephardt Daily)Â An officer-involved shooting in the Rio Grande district in downtown Salt Lake City Saturday night left a young man in critical condition and stirred outrage among hundreds of people – many of them homeless – who claimed the shooting was unjustified.
Gephardt Daily photojournalist Steve Milner was among the first members of the media to arrive on the scene. Here are a few of the images he captured as unrest spread throughout an area just blocks from the heart of downtown Salt Lake City.
We need to employ some common sense solutions: 1. Cops should patrol the neighborhoods in which they live so that the cops are invested in the outcome of their actions and the residents trust the cops. 2. We should teach cops to deescalate situations before they become worse and use non lethal force as a first measure. 3. We should require cops to earn an associates degree and detectives to earn a bachelor’s degree. 4. The Police Chief should work with the Mayor and District Attorney should establish policies to penalize cops who “tighten the case” by embellishing their testimony in reports and on the witness stand. 5. We should increase the number of homeless shelters and provide more “life training” to their residents. Is anything I have suggested going to happen? Probably not. The first reason is the one the government always falls back on, cost. However, Numbers One though Four won’t cost anything. It will require the powers that be to do more without increased subsidy. Number Five is tricky. You could offset the cost of additional facilities by providing tax incentives to businesses that invest in the neighborhoods where we build the additional shelters. This list isn’t exhaustive. It’s a constructive place to start. And, so far, no one with power in our community has shown a willingness to address these policy issues head on.
there was no rioting, there was no violence involved, not from what I saw at least. Loud as hell but no violence really wish stupid news organizations would have some journalistic integrity.