Burbank guided SLC through protests, shootings, political issues

SALT LAKE CITY — On a chilly November evening in 2012, Salt Lake Police Chief Chris Burbank waded into a mass of humanity gathered in Pioneer Park in the waning days of the Occupy Salt Lake movement.

Burbank calmly explained that officers would be clearing the park after a man connected to the movement was found dead in his tent earlier in the week. Burbank told people gathered there that his officers would help them pack their belongings, take down their tents and help them relocate.

Most people calmly complied, although 19 people were arrested that night. But the police department's handling of the events were relatively calm, unlike the riots that occurred in other cities when police encountered "Occupy" participants.

"It's gone as well as we could have expected," Burbank said at the time.

It was a shining moment in Burbank's tenure as chief, which ended abruptly Thursday when Salt Lake Mayor Ralph Becker, in a hastily called press conference, announced the police chief's "departure."

Burbank said he was forced to resign because of election-year politics. His boss, Becker, is seeking his third term as Salt Lake City mayor.

Burbank's handling of a sexual harassment claim by three female police officers "was not handled in the way I had directed at the time," Becker said.

At his own subsequent press conference, Burbank said he was most proud of the relationships his department has forged with the community.

Over his nine years as chief, Burbank has been an outspoken advocate for civil rights and spoke out against state-level immigration enforcement measures. He worked closely with advocates for people with mental illness to enhance the training of his officers.

His department hosted regular opportunities to have "Coffee With a Cop," and officers occasionally treated people in Pioneer Park to coffee and doughnuts in an effort to build community and trust with homeless people in the area.

Becker's own statement announcing Burbank's "departure" said the chief had "honored Salt Lake City in many ways by his service, and has made us proud in the way he has protected so many people in our community.

"His strong advocacy for civil rights, protection and inclusion of all residents of the city in our public safety umbrella, and personal actions to recognize the rights of everyone to exercise their First Amendment rights — as he did in the Occupy Salt Lake and Tim DeChristopher protests — defused difficult situations and reflected well on our city and policing. I’m grateful for his service and that he has stayed as long as he has."

Burbank had served the Salt Lake Police Department for 15 years when he was appointed chief by then-Mayor Rocky Anderson in 2006. Becker retained him in the position when he was elected mayor in 2007.

At the time of his appointment, Burbank was an assistant chief and had been in charge of Internal Affairs, training, dispatchers, records and personnel services.

Prior to his promotion to assistant chief, Burbank worked in Internal Affairs and training; he also started enforcing pedestrian jaywalking as a bicycle squad sergeant. He was a member of the SWAT team that disarmed a gunman with a bomb in the Salt Lake City Library in March 1994.

He also was a venue commander during the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City and served as a liaison to the Secret Service during the Games.

Within four months of being named police chief, Burbank faced a signficant test after 5-year-old Destiny Norton disappeared and her body was ultimately found in her killer's home. Days earlier, officers had been in the home to question the man but had not found her body.

Burbank went to the neighborhood to personally explain that his officers had done all they legally could at the time. His answers didn't satisfy everyone, but Burbank's personal involvement won him respect in the larger community.

In February 2007, Burbank faced an even greater professional and personal trial in the wake of a mass shooting at Trolley Square mall that killed five people and injured four others. The shooter, 18-year-old Bosnian refugee Sulejman Talovic, was shot and killed in a shootout with an off-duty officer from Ogden and three Salt Lake City officers.

"His intent was to shoot as many people as he possibly could," Burbank said at the time.

During his tenure as police chief, Burbank became a familiar face and voice in media reports both in Utah and nationally.

He was an outspoken opponent of cross-deputizing police officers as immigration enforcement agents, becoming a regular speaker at national conferences and meeting with federal officials to explain his concerns.

In recent years, Burbank addressed a congressional committee on racial profiling and civil rights issues.

More recently, Burbank reassigned resources in his department to create the Metro Support Bureau, to better address issues of crime in the Pioneer Park area and the impacts of the area's homeless population with the business community.

While Burbank is generally well-respected and liked, he came under fire last summer when a Salt Lake officer shot and killed a dog named Geist while he was searching for a missing toddler in a Sugar House neighborhood.

Throngs of people protested the dog's shooting, claiming the officer shouldn't have been in the man's yard. The man lived in the same neighborhood as the missing toddler.

When he addressed the public nine days after the shooting, Burbank expressed remorse but wanted people to know that the officer involved had earlier been honored for his role in ending the Trolley Square mall shooting.

“After 23 years in law enforcement I haven’t seen this type of public outcry when certain human beings have lost their lives,” Burbank said. A pair of investigations cleared the officer of wrongdoing.

Earlier this year, the city launched a review of its ethics policies after reports that Burbank and the police chief of Fort Worth, Texas, were closely linked to a company that won contracts to supply officers with body cameras.

The cities later determined that the chiefs' relationships with the company did not violate policies but that they highlighted potential shortcomings.

"He recognizes that in retrospect, some of that participation maybe wasn't the best decision to make," Art Raymond, Becker's spokesman, said of Burbank at the time.

Within the same period, the city was looking into what the Becker administration described Thursday as "a well-documented sexual harassment claim" lodged by three female officers who alleged inappropriate conduct by former Deputy Chief Rick Findlay.

While Burbank acknowledges that he and Becker disagreed about how the matter had been handled administratively, Burbank said he believed the matter concluded when Findlay resigned in 2014. Findlay reached 20 years of service as a police officer on June 1, 2014, a timeline issued by the mayor's office states. On June 4, 2014, Burbank issued a letter of disposition that said, in part, "By accepting your resignation, I deem this matter closed."

In his statement, Becker said Burbank had "fallen below my expectations" with respect to corrective actions outlined in a letter to Burbank, which included additional training and protective procedures for his police officers.

"We have been monitoring the measures outlined in this corrective letter to Chief Burbank over the past year to determine if he was implementing them within the Salt Lake City Police Department, and while some implementation has taken place, on balance, the chief has fallen below my expectations," Becker said.

But Burbank said Becker asking for his resignation a year after the administrative process regarding Findlay's conduct had concluded smacks of election-year politics.

Last month, a lawyer representing the three officers issued a statement indicating their plans to file a lawsuit against the city.

Robin Heiden, Melody Gray and Tiffany Commagere say they lived in fear or retaliation after reporting Findlay’s inappropriate behavior. The officers say Findlay was in a position of authority over them as deputy chief in charge of Internal Affairs and as member of a panel that determined advancements to the rank of lieutenant.

"When a lawsuit rears its head in the middle of an election cycle, it's an unfortunate circumstance. The mayor wanted me to proceed with something that I felt to be untruthful, inappropriate and would actually mislead to the public. I was opposed to do it. What I believe in telling the public the truth," Burbank said.

Contributing: Debbie Dujanovic

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