Ask a Cop: Why are all the homeless in Salt Lake?

SALT LAKE CITY -- I have lived in Utah my whole life, and I love this state. I do notice weird things on occasion and a few hypocritical ones. I am impressed that we receive great press about Utah County being so safe and a great place for business. The Ogden area is said to be great for outdoors and recreation, with the Salt Lake Valley being a true melting pot for this state and offering many world-class services.

I've noticed that as far as the homeless go in the Salt Lake Valley, Salt Lake City is the only city in the state that offers services as far as shelters, medical and mental health care, clothing and food. I am aware of the Midvale Winter Shelter, but it's not truly a shelter since it is only part-time, and the last time I heard, the residents were not allowed to leave the property. This doesn't seem very neighborly.

Don't get me wrong, I don't have a high tolerance for the homeless. I do find it inequitable that Salt Lake City is the only city carrying this burden. Yes, I said a burden. Look up arrest statistics, costs associated and other drains on services related to the homeless. There have been numerous news stories relating to the cost of these individuals. I am also not speaking about the temporarily homeless due to the recession or other woes. I'm speaking about the chronic homeless persons who reside in Salt Lake City.

Now I am very impressed at how Sandy is a bustling city full of development, but if there's a transient at the freeway offramp, watch how fast he or she is given a car ride back to Salt Lake City or pushed onto a TRAX train. “Call the police, Harold. If you let those people linger, they will multiply.” Maybe the West Valley mayor could write an article on how his city is going to build a shelter in West Valley City?

I checked the “Interwebs” searching for homeless services in Utah, and they kept showing me the same services all located in Salt Lake City. I have heard of a homeless shelter in Provo and another in Ogden. I am not aware if either of those areas have an open-air drug market like that of Pioneer Park and the 500 West area. I also was not able to locate services besides the shelters themselves.

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I remember dealing with a homeless person in a small agency that I worked for and we didn't know what to do with him, until a sergeant told me to take him to Salt Lake City and drop him off. I actually appreciate them dealing with them, because the guy that I had in my car was violent and reeked of … everything. I'm actually grateful the homeless seem to stay in Salt Lake City. It saves the other agencies in the valley a lot of time and resources.

Maybe readers can help me out on this, but wasn't there an offer once to move the shelter downtown to a more centralized area? Why was this a bad thing? I remember one of the directors of the shelter saying that the move was a ploy to keep the homeless out of sight. Isn't that the point? Would you want the shelter built next to your home? Can you imagine if a new, bigger shelter was built in Herriman? There would be mass heart attacks.

The questions

Dear Mr. Cop,

I have two questions for you. First, I hope I can explain this correctly. When you approach an intersection where only you and the car across from you have a stop sign, I've always believed that the car that approaches/stops first has the right-of-way regardless of whether they continue across the intersection or turn. Am I wrong? Second, if I live in Salt Lake County, why am I not able to report an incident to the sheriff's office? Why do I have to only go to the city that I live in? I'm still a resident of the county. — Thanks, Befuddled

To Befuddled:

With regards to the stop sign, it is a first-come, first- served regardless of the movement of the vehicle. However, if you were approaching to turn right and the other was going left or not on your roadway, I see no point in waiting for them, as long as you have stopped and made sure it's safe.

The city that you live in is responsible for all investigations and law enforcement. The sheriff's office only services cities and areas that are either non- incorporated or contracted to service. They do handle investigations that are a conflict because of an involved employee or other issues. Do you have a problem with the city where you live?

Related:

Ask a Cop: Real cops vs. TV cops

Not every thing on TV is true. This may shock you. This is especially true of police dramas and how the police are portrayed on TV. Let's take a look, through a cop's perspective, at five misconceptions shown on TV.

Dear Officer Anonymous,

In movies and on television, it seems detectives always work in pairs. It doesn't seem that way in real life. Do Salt Lake Police Department detectives work in pairs or alone? Is working as a pair just a Hollywood invention? — Thanks, Weldon

To Weldon:

As far as I have heard, most detectives in the valley work alone but team up depending on the situation. When I'm investigating a case or doing follow-up where I think I will need someone, I will ask someone in my office to go with me. I know in much larger police departments in other states you can be assigned a partner and you do everything with them. So it's not an entirely made up Hollywood thing.

Dear Officer Anonymous,

I do a lot of running. I don't know how many times I have come close to getting hit while crossing an intersection when I clearly have the right-of-way, when the light and walk signal are in my favor. There's also one intersection near my work that many junior high and high school students cross as they walk to school. I've seen several instances of impatient drivers going through the intersection while students are still in the crosswalk. We read all of the time about pedestrians getting hit by cars. Sometimes it's the pedestrian's fault, sometimes the car driver. First, what are the laws regarding pedestrians and crosswalks, and second, short of slapping car doors (which I've done to make someone aware of my presence) how can people be made more aware of the rights and responsibilities of both drivers and pedestrians? Interesting column by the way. I enjoy reading it. — Thank you, Jim

To Jim:

If a pedestrian is in the crosswalk, the driver has to yield the right of way, unless that area is controlled by a traffic device. A vehicle can move through the crosswalk until that pedestrian moves within two lanes of your vehicle, and you have to count your lane. I do like it that some cities have crosswalks that light up when a pedestrian is walking in it or other ways of notifying drivers. All pedestrians should never assume a vehcile is going to stop for them just because they are in the crosswalk. A pedestrian will never win in the crash.

Dear Cop,

If you are pulled over because you have an out-of-date registration but you have a temporary sticker in the window that is valid, can the officer still ask you to show your ID once they notice the sticker in your window? This has happened to me twice, and both times they have asked for ID even though they see that I am legal. — From C

To C:

There are a lot of people out there who are forging temporary registration or "temp tags." I have stopped people who have expired registration with a temp tag that I could not see or the temp tag did not look official and have investigated the legitimacy of it.

Dear Officer Anonymous,

First, I would like to thank you and your colleagues for all that you do to keep us safe.

I live in a circle in Salt Lake County and I have a neighbor in a rental property who thinks that it is their personal parking lot. They currently have about five vehicles, a motor home, several ATVs and a boat. For the last three weeks they have parked the boat on the street covering the sidewalk next to a car with two flat tires barely over the sidewalk. During this time period the boat and car have not moved.

A couple of weeks ago we had an officer come out to have one car moved because they were parked in front of our driveway and they would not answer the door when we tried knocking to have it moved. There is very limited parking in a circle, and with our three cars, one in the garage and two in the driveway, we have nowhere for any guests to park. Not to mention we have to play musical cars depending on who is leaving and the vehicle they need.

I have asked around and have been told to call UPD, which I hate to bother them with, but it's a nuisance. I have also been told to contact a towing company and have them towed, however I am not sure what legal issues/recourse could be involved. I have been doing some research and have found several codes that they are violating. A few are parking on the street during the months of November- March, parking into the sidewalk, not parallel to it, being over the sidewalk itself and parking for more than 24 hours. My question is what should I do or is there anything l can do? — Sincerely, Fed Up

To Fed Up:

I would contact UPD or see if your locality has an ordinance enforcement officer. The streets cannot be used for storage, unless the street is private and not public property. A lot of cities have nuisance abatement ordinances where the owner of the property can be fined if they allow their property to go into disrepair or become a criminal nuisance.

Dear Officer Anonymous,

It’s my understanding the posted speed limit is the “legal” limit. However, I also know from over 30 years of driving the safest speed is generally the speed of traffic. Quite often the “regular” speed on the freeway in the Salt Lake Valley is 70 to 74 mph with a posted “legal” speed of 65 mph. Where should a driver draw the line between “legal” and “safe”? — David K.

To David K:

I cannot tell you a specific "line" as one person may feel perfectly safe at a much faster speed than others. I agree on going with the flow of traffic and not hindering people by driving slow in the faster or left lanes on the freeway.

This article is the opinion of myself and not representative of any specific city or police agency. This is not legal advice and should not be taken as such. This article is a vain attempt at being informative.

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