Consider supporting established charities serving the homeless this holiday season

SALT LAKE CITY — Chief Chris Burbank talks about the Homeless Outreach Service Team and holiday giving with Det. Sam Wolf, a Community Intelligence Officer who also heads up the HOST program, in the chief’s latest video message.

Wolf and two other HOST officers work closely with The Road Home, The Rescue Mission, Fourth Street Clinic, Volunteers of America, Catholic Community Services, the Weigand Day Center, Crossroads Urban Center—all experienced social service providers with proven track records helping people transition through homelessness.

“We try and dig deeper, and to try and figure out what is causing the root problem of why they’re homeless, or what’s causing them to maybe break the law,” said Det. Wolf, “and trying to reach in and help these people to try and overcome these problems, like alcohol addiction or drug addiction, and try to get them to those resources that they need.”

Chief Burbank and Det. Wolf also talk about HOST’s family reunification program. Watch the full video—online at www.police.slc.gov or YouTube.com/slcpd—to learn more about what the police department is doing to engage people living on the streets and connect them to social services.

About the “Chief’s Message”

Chief Burbank issues a monthly video message to help the public reduce its exposure to, or mitigate the effects of, crime, as well as spotlight different parts of the city’s public safety team. All “Chief’s Messages” are archived on the newsroom page of www.police.slc.gov and the “Chief’s Message” playlist of http://www.youtube.com/slcpd. To recommend a topic to Chief Burbank, please send an email to: askthechief@slcgov.com.

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