PUBLIC RELATIONS UNIT

September 8, 2022

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact Information: PolicePRUnit@slcgov.com

SLCPD Officers Credited for Reducing Crime in ‘Focus Areas’ of SLC

SALT LAKE CITY — Today, the Salt Lake City Police Department released data showing a noticeable decrease in violent crime in three identified “focus areas” within the city.

All three Salt Lake City Police patrol divisions have an identified focus area.

• The Pioneer Patrol Division focus area border is from 200 North to South Temple and 700 West to 1000 West.
• The Central Patrol Division focus area border is from 200 South to 400 South and 200 West to South State Street.
• The Liberty Patrol Division focus area border is from 1300 South to 1500 South and 200 West to South State Street.

The focus areas will be reevaluated overtime and may change, depending on crime statistics.

As Chief Mike Brown previously announced, the Salt Lake City Police Department is working to proactively reduce violent crime in Salt Lake City.

• The Pioneer Patrol Division focus area saw 33% fewer violent crimes in August 2022 when compared to August 2021.
• The Central Patrol Division focus area saw 28% fewer violent crimes in August 2022 when compared to August 2021.
• The Liberty Patrol Division focus area saw 71% fewer violent crimes in August 2022 when compared to August 2021.

As part of the SLCPD’s ongoing Stratified Policing approach to proactively reducing crime, SLCPD Division Commanders are responsible for coordinating problem-solving, place-based, offender-based and community-oriented approaches within their identified focus areas to reduce crime.

In the three identified focus areas referenced above, SLCPD worked with the department’s crime analysts to identify crime patterns and to increase police visibility at or near those locations to deter violent crimes.

More specifically, and as an example of the work being conducted, the Pioneer Division Commander worked with the city to implement regular street cleaning and worked with the SLCPD Special Investigations Unit, Pioneer Bike Squad and SLCPD Gang Unit to proactively reduce crime. The Central Division Commander assigned two officers to conduct daily, weekday foot patrols along South Main Street near 300 South and regularly meets with community members and business leaders to address livability concerns. The Liberty Division Commander worked with the Liberty Bike Squad to make focused arrests on violent offenders and worked with the Liberty Division District Community Liaison Officer (DCLO) to obtain and post “No Trespassing” sign at properties requesting assistance.

There are three things needed for a crime to occur, (1) a motivated offender, (2) a victim/target and (3) a place where offenders and victim/targets interact. Systematically removing one of these three elements through intentional police strategies can prevent multiple crimes in the long term.

The Salt Lake City Police Department is committed to a police-led, community-wide response to reducing violence, arresting and prosecuting violent offenders.

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