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SLCPD Chief Mike Brown and Mayor Erin Mendenhall Announce 2023 Crime Reduction Efforts

SALT LAKE CITY — Today, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall and Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown announced significant crime reduction efforts from 2023.

They also announced a new crime dashboard that is now available to community members.

Citywide, for 2023, Salt Lake City saw a nearly 10% reduction in violent crime, a 12% reduction in property crime, and an 11% reduction in overall crime.

In 2023, overall crime dropped to a 15-year low.

Both Chief Brown and Mayor Mendenhall stressed the importance of having a strategic approach toward reducing crime. In 2022, Chief Brown announced four pillars that continue to guide the Department. They include lowering violent crime, filling all vacant sworn positions, improving response times, and increasing community outreach.

In 2023, the Salt Lake City Police Department’s Crime Lab Unit responded to more than 4,600 calls for service and completed more than 600 lab requests. Of the 600 lab requests, nearly half involved firearm analysis and comparison. In 2023, the Department booked 715 firearms into its property warehouse.

Chief Brown highlighted a 30% reduction in car thefts in 2023. He credited the reduction to the Department’s Auto Theft Unit, the use of new technology that can quickly locate stolen cars, and renewed collaboration between detectives and prosecutors that resulted in habitual offenders being sent to prison.

Chief Brown spoke about the Department’s stratified policing and violent crime reduction strategy.

Central Division

Beginning in February 2023, Central Division handled an active crime pattern of vehicle burglaries in a very small area of downtown. Over several weeks, officers, detectives, sergeants, and lieutenants contributed to more than 180 hours of documented patrol presence and investigative work on the case.

Additionally, officers devoted at least 3,200 hours of proactive time in Central’s focus area. This resulted in a 5% decrease in violent crime in the focus area when compared to 2022. Central Division officers also made more than 150 arrests in their focus area.

Liberty Division

Officers devoted at least 2,900 hours of proactive time in Liberty’s focus area. The Liberty Patrol Division’s District Community Liaison Officer (DCLO) conducted a CPTED (Crime Prevention Though Environmental Design) to make recommendations in the Ballpark Neighborhood that focused on eliminating criminal opportunities. As a result of the combined efforts, the Liberty Patrol Division saw a 49% decrease in violent crime in its focus area when compared to 2022, and a 17% decrease in property crime.

Pioneer Division

Officers devoted at least 2,600 hours of proactive time in Pioneer’s focus area. This resulted in a 43% decrease in violent crime in the focus area when compared to 2022, and an 8% decrease in property crime. In March of 2023, officers conducted a saturation operation in the North Temple focus area. During the operation, officers arrested six people and charged them with a range of criminal offenses.

Other notable events in 2023 include the Department’s long-term investigation at the New Yorker nightclub, which resulted in the arrest of 15 people and the seizure of six firearms and the Department launching its Police Community Response Team (PCRT).

The PCRT is a team of non-sworn staff who handle non-hazardous calls for service. Since July 2023, the Department’s PCRT has responded to nearly 3,400 calls for service. They have relieved patrol officers from more than 2,300 calls for service.

The new SLCPD Crime Dashboard will be updated each month and will allow users to sort by citywide, council district, police patrol division, or community council neighborhood.

Prior to launching the dashboard publicly, Chief Brown invited news directors and editors, along with community members and business leaders to preview the dashboard. The Department received great feedback and we appreciate their insight.

The new dashboard – which resembles our CompStat report format – is part of our continued approach of transparency with the community and is consistent with other law enforcement agencies with similar dashboards.

A copy of today’s announcement is available by clicking here.

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