Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SOUTH SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (AP) — Two of Utah's top law enforcement leaders say they won't change the way their agencies patrol or handle protests in the aftermath of the shooting of police officers in Dallas. But they called on the community to work with police to break down barriers of mistrust.
"What occurred last night is a classic ambush. A very calculated ambush," Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder said Friday at a news conference. "I don't know how one ever prevents that. It's almost impossible."
Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown said at the joint news conference that residents need to remember that officers are mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters and not just uniforms. He says officers, in turn, need to do a better job of interacting with residents.
"We need to come together as a community. We need to talk. It's hard to hate up close. It's very easy to stand afar and have bias and prejudice and hate. But when we sit down and we interact, and we shake hands and we hug, that hate and that bias is gone."
Winder said he's disgusted and saddened by what he called "urban warfare" in Dallas. He said it is a reflection of the devolution of a society caused by people spending more time interacting with electronics and spewing anonymous vitriol at others online instead of spending face-to-face time with each other.
Winder said people think it's the role of police to fix societal problems, but that can't happen unless society looks inward and fixes itself.
"We've lost the social contract of simple decency," Winder said. "Maybe we've hit rock bottom? People, because of all this vitriol, feel so empowered they go to the streets of a metropolitan city during a peaceful protest and open fire on peacekeepers."
Brown's officers will be dealing with an anti-police brutality protest planned Saturday evening outside police headquarters. A group called Utah Against Police Brutality is expecting several hundred people to speak out against racism and overzealous police tactics, said Stephen Michael Christian, a member of the group.
"We're not ignoring Dallas, but Dallas demonstrates a failure to be able to adequately address the oppression that black Americans face in this country," Christian said.
Brown said they'll be vigilant and make sure there's no indication of violence, but he said he's confident it will be a peaceful rally. He said his agency has been meeting with community groups concerned about police tactics regularly since February when a police officer shot and wounded a 17-year-old involved in a fight, sparking unrest downtown and several protests in the following days.
"We have worked with the protesters over the years and I think we're better here," Brown said. "We have a relationship where people can come out and express their concerns in a peaceful manner."
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
