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Sean D. Reyes
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Utah AG Investigates Record Number of Police Shootings in Utah

May 22, 2019

In 2018, Utah police officers fired at 30 individuals and killed 19, making it one of the deadliest years in recent history. Each month of last year in the state of Utah, someone died from lethal force used by a law enforcement agent.

Earlier this year, Utah Attorney General Sean D. Reyes sent a letter to all law enforcement partners to inform them of a study this office has since launched. The study will compare 2018 with previous years in an effort to discover trends and factors contributing to the higher rate of police-involved deaths.

“Utah experienced a record number of officer-involved shootings in 2018. All of us in law enforcement have taken note of this increase and the impact it has on our officers and on the public. I believe this warrants a cooperative in-depth study to see what actions we might take to reduce the number of shootings, increase the safety of our officers, and maintain a high level of public trust.”

Utah Attorney General Sean D. Reyes in a letter to law enforcement partners

You can read the letter sent from the AG’s office here.

Scott Carver, Director of Training for the AG, is overseeing the evaluation along with the Police Officer Standards and Training, or POST, and the Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice.

According to Carver, the best thing people can do when approached by a police officer is to listen and follow the directions being given.

The Salt Lake Tribune recently covered the action being taken by the AG office. You can find that article below.

Salt Lake Tribune: Police in Utah fatally shot a record 19 people in 2018. Now the state attorney general is investigating why.

It is important to note that the trend for 2018 has not carried over into 2019.

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