"The Co$t of Mi$conduct,"
Oct. 19 Cover Story
It seems logical that each police officer should have to pay for Errors & Omissions insurance to cover their unethical behavior. Taxpayers should not be paying to fund violations of civil rights and police brutality.
The racist police officers noted within this article should've lost their jobs and their pensions should be at risk for their unethical behavior.
BRINGBALANCETOMYLIFE
Via Instagram
"Back to the Future,"
Oct. 5 Opinion
I was bewildered to read Salt Lake City Councilmember Chris Wharton's letter to the editor in which he accused former Mayor Rocky Anderson of "weaponizing" the Salt Lake City Police Department against gay men. Wharton then cited a reference to police addressing public sex activities popular at the time by closeted gay men.
The idea that Mr. Wharton would cite this as an example of Rocky Anderson weaponizing law enforcement towards gay men is misinformed.
In the late '90s, it was not uncommon for closeted gay men to frequent public venues to engage in sex. These places included parks and restrooms. Neighbors and news outlets were reporting on "lewd behavior" without truly understanding the complex motivations for the men participating.
Following a public outing of these behaviors, then-Mayor Rocky Anderson reached out to the local LGBTQ+ community to create a task force to address this public health issue. The concepts of restorative justice were key to addressing public sex venues.
From Day 1, I was on this committee because of my expertise as a mental health professional working with the judicial system of Salt Lake City. Included in this process was the Salt Lake City Prosecutor and law-enforcement professionals. At the core of Anderson's ambition was to take a communal, humane and collaborative approach to this public problem.
Prior to Anderson's approach, if a person got cited for public sex, it was often a felony and would become a literal outing (a significant number of these men were closeted and married). They were sent to sex offender programs (18 months of therapy with convicted child molesters) and ended up on the sex-offender registries. A person's life was literally destroyed by a citation of this nature.
Many men were suicidal or committed suicide as opposed to facing the public scrutiny regarding these offenses. Mayor Anderson took a pro humane and restorative justice position to deal with these issues with the directive of fairness.
The Salt Lake City Prosecutor's Office was willing to reduce the crimes to misdemeanors with a plea in abeyance that would literally allow for the offense to be wiped off someone's record once they completed the requirements of probation.
Probation involved a small fine, the completion of a program called Healthy Self Expressions (a program developed and facilitated by me, an openly gay therapist). The program specifically addressed HIV testing and education, something sorely lacking for the men often cited for these activities.
Mayor Anderson supported the efforts of the collaboration, such as assigning the Salt Lake City Prosecutor's Office to develop and implement this program of restorative justice.
JERRY BUIE
Sandy
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