SLC police spend hundreds of hours a week on homeless-related calls, public records show

SALZSEE-CITY (KUTV) –

At a time when the Salt Lake City homelessness crisis is central to the whole city, the police spend a lot of time dealing with it.

A 2News query on public records found that the police are being called hundreds of times each week with complaints related to homelessness, people passing through, street camping or other related issues.

It’s a big part of the officers’ workload and puts a strain on an already tense department.

“It takes up a fair amount of our resources,” said Salt Lake City Police Sgt. Keith Horrocks said.

Hundreds of hours

Police records show officials answered between 147 and 256 calls on the matter each week from November 1 to mid-June. An email from a Salt Lake City police chief to the mayor’s chief of staff in March stated that each service call “takes at least 2 man hours.”

Do the math – that means the police spend 300 to 500 hours a week. And that’s a conservative estimate. In the same March 19 email, Salt Lake City Police Chief Lance VanDongen wrote, “This is exactly what we can prove … many of the other mental health and property crime calls are related to the same challenge.”

This email was written to Rachel Otto, Chief of Staff to the Mayoress of Salt Lake City Erin Mendenhall, and Erin Litvack, Deputy Mayor of Salt Lake County.

Complaints from a company

Canyon Sports, based at 517 South 200 West in Salt Lake City, is a place where calling the police is commonplace.

Employee Kevin Meepos said the outdoor gear store is calling the police “at least once a day” over concerns about a group of people camping and lounging in their parking lot and near their store.

“They come into our property, harass our customers, shoot drugs, poop on our property, pee on our property, throw stones at our windows,” said Meepos.

While 2News was interviewing meepos in the store on Thursday afternoon, our crew watched a man try to inject a needle in the parking lot. Meepos said this type of behavior is common.

Canyon Sports’ complaints are just a fraction of the many calls the Salt Lake Police receives each week regarding homelessness and street camping. When asked if this is a burden on the department, Horrocks said, “I think everything in our current predicament is some kind of burden.”

That’s because the Salt Lake City police force has dozens of vacancies, which results in slower response times. But they insist that people who need help should call them anyway.

“We will answer,” said Horrocks, “and we will address the problem you are calling us about as soon as possible.”

Possible solutions

Andrew Johnston, Salt Lake City’s new homelessness policy and outreach director, isn’t shocked by the number of calls the police have received on the matter. He believes calls for services will fall as the city is currently looking to accommodate 300 people on the streets.

“It’s basically a housing issue,” said Johnston. “If you can spend money on housing and focus on housing, we can alleviate this initial crisis that we are dealing with.”

Then there is the question that has been asked in this new era of police reform – should all these calls for a duty police force be answered and not a social worker?

“That’s the question we’re asking,” said Horrocks. “What is appropriate for the police to respond? Right now? It is appropriate that we respond to it. “

He said the Salt Lake City Police Department has seven social workers and plans to hire 13 more shortly. However, he noted that the police will likely always be present on a call for help dealing with a transient, as these situations can often become dangerous and unpredictable.

“Until we find a better solution or a better way, we are the ones who respond,” said Horrocks. “Please keep calling us. We will answer and address the problem you are calling us about as soon as possible. “