SLC cop among 6 to get audience with President Obama


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SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake City Police Department sergeant got the opportunity of a lifetime, as one of six officers across the country chosen to speak with President Barack Obama about police relations with the people they serve and community-oriented policing efforts.

“The president seemed most interested in how to develop trust among, between the public and police,” Sgt. Charli Goodman told a group of reporters Friday.

Goodman was in Washington, D.C., Tuesday for the meeting, which also featured officers from California, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey and Washington.

“I told the president and vice president that when our leadership shows trust in the police, that will lend itself to more trust from the public as well,” Goodman said.

Goodman said the individual police jurisdictions were selected by the Community Oriented Policing Services office because of their policing philosophies and good reputations for dealing with their residents.

“The biggest thing that sets us apart is our transparency,” Goodman said of her own department.

Goodman said that transparency is in part exhibited in Salt Lake City’s use of body cameras and public access to the video. Last month, the department released body camera video the day after a deadly police shooting involving a man who attacked an officer with a shovel.


There he was standing and I thought it was a Madame Tussauds wax figure or a hologram. It was just really unbelievable... I had goose bumps pretty much the entire time. It was an awesome, awesome experience. I was in awe.

–Sgt. Charli Goodman


“It’s a love-hate relationship; it’s very bittersweet. But as of late we’ve seen very successful stories with body cameras,” Goodman said. “As a supervisor, I know that it’s definitely made citizen complaints a lot easier to handle.

Goodman was one of three officers recommended to the COPS office by Chief Chris Burbank, she said. She did not know why she specifically was selected.

Goodman said she believed President Obama took the officers’ words to heart.

“He has some great first-hand, honest information from the rank-and-file,” she said.

Of the visit itself, Goodman said the felt like the experience was “surreal.”

“There he was standing and I thought it was a Madame Tussauds wax figure or a hologram,” she said. “It was just really unbelievable.

Goodman said she received a special coin from the president, which she now has tucked away in a safe.

“I had goose bumps pretty much the entire time,” Goodman said. “It was an awesome, awesome experience. I was in awe.”

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