POLICING, JUSTICE, PUBLIC SAFETY, AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM
ACCOUNTABILITY FOR POLICE ABUSE
EFFECTIVE & PROFESSIONAL POLICING
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Rocky spoke with Sergeant Meinzer who introduced the new Homeless Resource Center Salt Lake Police Department squad to the community and discussed their commitment to changing the Paramount Avenue and 300 West area.
"Governor Huntsman joined Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson and Police Chief Rick Dinse in dedicating a special memorial.
Etched in the monument are the names of all the officers who died while serving." "Over the past seven years, the Salt Lake City Police Department has made remarkable strides to promote the safety of those who live and work in our city, as well as those who visit our city. . . Because of the training and dedication of police officers to recognize mental health disorders and to respond with an understanding of why some people may be acting in a manner that could, under other circumstances, elicit a violent response from police, lives have likely been saved, and treatment, rather than retribution, has helped bring about dramatic, positive changes in peoples lives. . . ." - Rocky Anderson, 2007 State of the City Address
" 'There remained an active threat to everyone present that night, including the medical personnel,' Mendenhall wrote. 'We are confident our officers made the best decisions they could in a very dynamic situation.' But according to a timeline released by SLCPD, the 'scene was safe for paramedics' within two minutes of officers arriving."
"Before Elizabeth Smart was found with her alleged kidnappers. . . Mayor Rocky Anderson wondered if Salt Lake City police were pursuing the homeless man aggressively enough. On Monday, he created an independent panel to find out."
"At a news conference Thursday morning, the Salt Lake City Police Officer’s Association announced its support of Ross “Rocky” Anderson for mayor. 'His experience as a civil rights leader is attractive to us,' said David Greer, president of the association."
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"A priority one call would get the fastest service. I will tell you, I had to answer to Rocky Anderson every single month as to how quickly we were getting to priority one calls for service...his mark was six [minutes]. We had to be better than six." - Chris Burbank, former SLCPD Chief under Mayor Rocky Anderson.
"Calling the park the 'jewel of Salt Lake City,' Anderson said such acts of violence will not be tolerated. He said the police will be vigilant in their investigations, arrests and prosecutions".
" 'Salt Lake's Taser policy, we think, is a more thoughtful and comprehensive policy than most departments in the country,' ACLU of Utah executive director Dani Eyer said."
" 'What am I supposed to do?' Officer Anderson responded. 'We have medical coming.'
The officers took turns asking Tobar questions as the second officer stood over the victim, asking questions and giving commands but never touching him. 'Why are you letting him just lay like that?' Tobar asked again, minutes later. Officer Anderson stuck to his story. 'We’re not paramedics,' he said. 'We have medical on the way.' " "Outlaw had waited approximately 27 minutes for police to arrive after the first 911 call. Police said their response took so long due to a lack of available officers. 'What am I supposed to do?' [SLCPD Officer] Anderson is heard saying on body camera video. 'We have medical coming.' "
" 'I sure think this community is ill-served by the unanswered questions and the issue being dropped,' Anderson told The Tribune in a recent interview. Anderson said the police department still has not answered questions he posed in a memo to then-Chief Rick Dinse a few weeks before Elizabeth Smart's return."
"[T]he Salt Lake Police Association, representing the 325 officers below the rank of sergeant, formally endorsed Rocky Anderson. 'This endorsement was well-earned,' said union chief David Greer. 'His commitment to the safety of the community, as well as to the men and women of the police force who are out on the streets every day risking their lives, is clear.' "
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" 'Chief Burbank exemplifies the kind of leadership that police departments ought to have in terms of his openness with the public, his lack of arrogance, and genuine civility', Mr. Anderson says."
"When police officers commit
unnecessary violence, we must demand they be held to account. Even if violence is not technically illegal, if it could be reasonably avoided it should be prevented and sanctioned. De-escalation should be the rule whenever possible." - Rocky Anderson "The problem dates back to an April 1999 incident when more than 50 officers in riot gear cleared out the park after police were threatened by members of the drum circle while trying to make an arrest. Former Salt Lake Police Chief Ruben Ortega said he was convinced a group of about 200 people was going to attack the officers with knives and swords.
Anderson, who was a candidate for mayor at the time, was highly critical of the way the incident was handled. When he was elected he said what happened at the park wouldn't happen again. But on Sunday, Anderson made it clear that he will not stand in the way of officers doing their jobs. 'I don't want my criticism to be translated into being a sign that we condone drug usage in the city park,' Anderson said. While Anderson said he does not want a repeat of what happened two years ago, he is not going to stop officers from entering the circle and making arrests. 'Treat our cops courteously. Respect the fact our police have a job to do," Anderson told the group.' " "Rocky Anderson, the former mayor of Salt Lake City, said Chief Brown should be fired.
'If I saw something like this going on? Man, heads would roll,' Anderson said. 'They’ve got to change their motto from "Protect and Serve" to "Stand and Stare," because that’s all these officers did.' " "Two Salt Lake City police officers who declined first aid to a stabbing victim in November are now under investigation by the Salt Lake City Civilian Review Board. . . . The Civilian Review Board is designed to operate independently from Internal Affairs."
"The mayor of Salt Lake City accuses city police officers of mishandling the investigation of the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart. Mayor Rocky Anderson is also criticizing alleged police department leaks to reporters."
"Salt Lake police honored their best officers [on the eve of 9/11] the one-year anniversary of the attacks that brought renewed respect for police officers and firefighters around the country. 'Especially after the events of last Sept. 11, I think that we all have a renewed sense of the amazing sacrifices that these people make every single day of their lives and that these people, in fact, are the true heroes,' Mayor Rocky Anderson said during Tuesday's 22nd Annual Awards Banquet for the Salt Lake City Police Department at the Marriott Hotel."
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ADVOCACY FOR CRIME VICTIMS
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"The families and Pearson have hired civil rights attorney Ross C. Anderson. 'I felt like I couldn't get help anywhere until I met Rocky Anderson,' Gallegos said. [Anderson] has filed several previous lawsuits against the department on behalf of citizens who say city officers beat them."
"Eventually, police revealed ballistics from bullets found at the scenes show the same gun. A .38 caliber handgun was used in all three murders. The cases go cold…'Oh, they were being stone walled. they were being rejected. they were being blown off,' said Rocky Anderson, attorney."
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"Forest Whittle was convicted in Strong's death after Mayor Rocky Anderson, then a practicing attorney who represented the victims' families, pushed for the state to convene a grand jury. In August, Salt Lake City police formed a new 'cold case' squad to take another look at more than 60 unsolved Salt Lake City homicides."
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" 'She was gone all night looking for leads in the case,' he recalled. (She was) investigating the case on her own."
" 'It was a classic cover-up and the only explanation for it is that they had so totally blown these cases,' said Rocky Anderson who represented the families of the murdered women."
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gun safety
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"Mayor Rocky Anderson's inaugural 'freedom forum'—this one on gun violence . . . . Salt Lake City's mayor initiated the discussion by offering his six-point plan to help curb gun violence. The mayor advocates laws that would force every gun owner to lock up his or her guns."
"While downtown Olympic venues such as the medals plaza and Delta Center will be under tight security, Anderson laments that the City County Building and Utah Capitol were not afforded similar protection."
"To eliminate illegal gun use, Anderson suggested posting rewards for, 'information leading to the arrest and conviction of those who deal in illegal guns.' "
"The mayor said today the city wants to cut down on the number of minors who possess handguns. Legally, no one under 18 is allowed to have them."
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DRUG PREVENTION & TREATMENT
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"Last summer, Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson lambasted DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) as 'completely ineffective,' canned the city's budget for it and booted it out of the schools. DARE 'has been a complete waste of money, a fraud on the American people,' he says. 'We should put our resources behind programs that work.' "
"The drug war has failed, Anderson said during a locally broadcast panel discussion. 'The cost of drugs has gone down precipitously and purity has increased,' even while incarcerations have skyrocketed."
"Drug prevention is too important to be left to those who refuse to become familiar with the research — or with the availability of other programs that have been proven to work. The DARE program, and those who have advocated it to the exclusion of effective programs, should be held accountable to the public." - Rocky Anderson
"Anderson had had the temerity to editorialize in Utah's largest newspaper against DARE as 'a fraud upon the people of America' and then cut the program funding. Adding insult to injury, the renegade mayor went on to make pointed attacks on current drug policy at last summer's Shadow Conventions."
"Our common goal is to cut drug abuse among our youth. A means of helping to accomplish that goal is to implement in our schools drug-prevention programs that actually work. Those who fail to insist on effective drug-prevention programs in our schools are betraying our youth and our community." - Rocky Anderson
"...Anderson said, 'I think your organization has been an absolute fraud on this people of this country. For you to continue taking precious drug-prevention dollars when we have such a serious and, in some instances, growing addiction problem is unconscionable.' The official soon got up and left. 'These people aren't used to being talked to like that,' says Anderson."
"Instead of reducing and preventing drug abuse, our war on drugs has cost many American citizens their fundamental freedoms; it has destroyed families and individual lives through the incarceration of drug offenders for outrageously excessive periods; and it has fleeced the U.S. taxpayers of hundreds of billions of dollars for source-control and interdiction efforts, as well as the astronomical costs of unnecessary incarceration." - Rocky Anderson
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"After months of researching the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson eliminated it."
"Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson charged that the 'war on drugs' was manufactured for political gain — and both parties care more about appearing tough on crime than they do about truly reducing use of drugs."
"Anderson last year decided that the city’s police department would no longer participate in DARE — the acronym for Drug Abuse Resistance Education — because, he said, research showed the program simply was ineffectual. He was right and a plethora of independent research bears him out."
"That has to stop. Utah's schools can't afford to hang onto a program that doesn't work. Too much is at stake. From now on, school districts should demand accountability from any drug-resistance program they use."
"After months of researching the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson eliminated it. Research of the program’s effectiveness included areas such as preventing drug use among Utah’s teens, said mayor’s office spokesman Ted Nguyen."
"Anderson's decision should not be construed as a message that these programs are unimportant. It is, rather, a directive that Salt Lake schoolchildren are so important that they deserve a program proven to work."
"Salt Lake City, UT, Mayor Ross C. "Rocky" Anderson has become the most outspoken and effective local elected official in the United States when it comes to drug policy reform. Within six months of taking office in 2000, he made headlines by eliminating the ineffective, misleading, and costly D.A.R.E. program in Salt Lake City calling it "an absolute fraud on the people of this country." Since then he has continued to innovate: police in Salt Lake City now receive harm reduction trainings. The city has created a program for educating sex workers about how to protect themselves from the dangers associated with drug misuse and the spread of disease. And Mayor Anderson, in partnership with numerous drug policy reform organizations, recently welcomed the first comprehensive conference on harm reduction and methamphetamine to Salt Lake City."
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"Mayor Rocky Anderson Talks about What It's Like to... Drop the D.A.R.E. Program. 'I was - and still am - convinced that the American people had been badly betrayed. The net result has been lost and ruined lives, many of which could have been saved through the utilization of effective drug prevention programs.' "
"Anderson proposes a new party that will commit to: affordable universal health care, and treat substance abuse within a public health framework rather than as a criminal matter."
" 'This is not about sentimentality. It's not about making us feel good. It's not about asking our kids what makes them feel good after they graduate from DARE,' [Rocky Anderson] said. 'It's about science. It's about results. DARE is clearly not the answer, and we need to face up to it.'"
"The nation's drug-policy director probably didn't like what he'd read in the New York Times about Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson. But before traveling to Utah this week, Gen. Barry McCaffrey arranged a meeting with the mayor to discuss something the two men couldn't disagree on more: Drug Abuse Resistance Education, or DARE."
"Baum flew here in early October. He interviewed the mayor, chief of staff Deeda Seed, police and school district officials, students and others who disagreed with Anderson's cancellation of DARE last July. His article, headlined 'Salt Lake City Drops DARE: Maverick Mayor Rocky Anderson Calls the School Anti-Drug Program "An Absolute Fraud," ' appeared in the Nov. 23 issue."
" ‘There are others who have died because their friends panicked and they were probably worried about their own legal liability and didn't call 911,’ Anderson said. ‘We're trying to get people to process now what their decision will be if somebody is exhibiting signs of a drug overdose.’ Anderson's drug reforms — most notably his elimination of the D.A.R.E program from Salt Lake City schools — earned him top honors last weekend at the conference of the Drug Policy Alliance in California. Anderson received the Richard J. Dennis Drugpeace Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Drug Policy Reform for being the ‘most outspoken and effective local elected official’ in the nation on drug policy.”
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RESTORATIVE JUSTICE
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"Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, a former attorney who saw flaws in purely punitive law enforcement, championed the restorative-justice model immediately after taking office."
" 'It's been the fulfillment of an impossible dream,' said Burton Stringfellow, who greeted Anderson as the mayor returned from a Washington, D.C., lobbying trip. 'It's been such a heavy burden lifted, and it was Rocky who stood up for Cory as if he was his own son.' "
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June 19, 2020 - Rocky discusses human rights and social justice through the lens of his law practice, activism, and political career.
prison & jail REFORM
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"Salt Lake County Jail nurses and guards refused to arrange medical care for an inmate who died from an infection related to gastric bypass surgery, even though she showed clear signs of serious pain and sickness in the days leading up to her death, her family alleges in a wrongful death lawsuit."
"A Utah mother of three died behind bars while begging for medical attention at the Salt Lake County Jail. Now former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson is calling for 'heads to roll' after negotiating a $950,000 settlement in the death of 37-year-old inmate Lisa Ostler."
"A federal judge on Monday terminated a decree that limited strip searches of inmates at the Salt Lake County jail, ruling that the agreement is no longer necessary because it has been incorporated into county policy. Ross 'Rocky' Anderson, now serving his second term as Salt Lake City mayor - filed a class-action lawsuit in 1980 on behalf of Regan and other prisoners who had been strip searched."
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"Rocky Anderson, the Ostlers’ attorney, said that if any of the jail’s official protocols had been followed, Lisa Ostler would be alive today."
"Rocky Anderson, mayor of Salt Lake City. He was the lead counsel in a 1997 lawsuit brought by Angie Armstrong who successfully sued the State of Utah after her son, Michael Valent, died while in custody."
"...former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, who filed the lawsuit on Crane's behalf, it's a snapshot of a ruthless prison system that, around every corner, punished and damaged Tucker until he decided to end his life."
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"Other inmates, meanwhile, thought Ostler would die if she didn’t receive medical attention from the nurses working in the jail, according to the lawsuit, filed by Rocky Anderson, an attorney and former Salt Lake City mayor."
"Our Legislature and the Department of Corrections owe it to the people of this state to reform our criminal justice system rather than to abdicate the responsibility of our State government by turning over the construction and operation of our prisons to profit-motivated corporations." - Rocky Anderson
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criminal justice reform
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"Former Salt Lake City Mayor and 2012 Justice Party presidential candidate Rocky Anderson decries the horrific social and financial consequences of mandatory minimum sentencing laws, sharing the outrageous case of Weldon Angelos, condemned to spend 55 years in federal prison for non-violent drug offenses." (After a long struggle, Weldon Angelos was pardoned by then-President Donald Trump in 2020)
"A petition a few years ago asking for a presidential commutation was signed by former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, and former Republican U.S. Sen. Jake Garn, as well as blues singer Bonnie Raitt."
"Lisa Angelos worked tirelessly to keep her brother's story in the public eye and garner support for his release. 'She never lost her resolve,' said former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, one of the lawyers who joined the effort. 'She never gave up on Weldon.' "
"The push by clemency supporters included a last-minute Capitol Hill press conference on January 16th, just days before Clinton's term expired. Attended by Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson (D), who has become an outspoken proponent of drug policy reform, the press conference was a call to Clinton to use his pardon power in his administration's waning hours."
" 'The Republican and Democratic parties will not honestly address the absolute insanity of our approach to preventing and fighting drug abuse and addiction,' Anderson said in prepared text for a speech to the 'Shadow Convention.'"
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"Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson called Tuesday for President Clinton to grant clemency to possibly hundreds of nonviolent drug offenders."
"Because of federal mandatory-minimum sentencing guidelines, the judge had no choice but to put a man in his early 20s with no prior adult record in prison until he was a senior citizen."
"People who have asked that Angelos' sentence be commuted include former FBI Director William Sessions; Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah; former U.S. Sen. Jake Garn, R-Utah; and former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson."
"The parents of a prisoner whose sentence was commuted by former President Clinton were at the airport Sunday night to express thanks to Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson for his efforts in behalf of their son."
"Governments devoted disproportionate resources to repression at the expense of efforts to better the human condition. Tens of millions of people, mostly poor and racial and ethnic minorities, were incarcerated, mostly for low-level and non-violent drug law violations, with little if any benefit to public security. Problematic drug use and HIV/AIDS, hepatitis and other infectious diseases spread rapidly as prohibitionist laws, agencies and attitudes impeded harm reduction and other effective health policies. Humankind cannot afford a 21st century drug policy as ineffective and counter-productive as the last century’s. A new global response to drugs is needed, grounded in science, compassion, health and human rights."
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" 'It was so tragic to think that Weldon was in a federal penitentiary not even released to go to his father’s funeral,' former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson said. 'His father was along with his sister Lisa was his greatest fan, greatest advocate. This is just wrong. It’s cruel.' "
"Anderson stated that the controversy surrounding the death penalty prompted Utah legislators to ask for an interim committee to evaluate it through further study. 'This discussion about the means of executing people actually led to a broader discussion concerning whether we should have the death penalty at all,' he added. Anderson also stated that the death sentence costs $1.6 million more than all procedures of cost of life imprisonment for a defendant's lifetime, an audit of a court case revealed."
"The Stringfellows have spent the past five years trying to get their son's 15 1/2-year sentence reduced, eventually gaining the attention of Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson and finally Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who all saw Cory's case as an example of unreasonably long prison terms for nonviolent drug offenders."
"We must stop this insanity. We must stop this inhumanity. America's war on drugs began under the Nixon Administration by federalizing drug trafficking under the pretense of regulating interstate commerce, and since that time has proceeded to expand the government's authority to wiretap, issue broad search warrants, seize personal property, with little, if any, due process, and incarcerate offenders for enormous periods of time." - Rocky Anderson, Address to The Shadow Convention August 15, 2000 Los Angeles, California
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public safety, Pedestrian & Bicycling Safety & Advocacy
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"[A]nderson . . . campaigned on making the city more walkable. . . . The city put red flags in containers that pedestrians can carry across intersections and wave at drivers. Overhead lights that pedestrians can activate were installed at intersections. Undercover police ticketed drivers who failed to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks. . . . As a result, accidents involving pedestrians fell 36 percent, to 114, in the first 11 months of 2004, from 177 in 2001. The STPP (Surface Transportation Policy Project) ranked Salt Lake City the most improved city for pedestrian safety."
"State law prevents Salt Lake City from forcing motorists to turn off their cell phones while driving, but Mayor Rocky Anderson is asking them to do so anyway. Standing alongside friends and family of 17-year-old Lauren Mulkey, a Salt Lake City girl who died in March when her car was hit by a 19-year-old driver allegedly distracted by his cell phone."
"Students from Nibley Park Elementary School helped Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson kick off the next phase of his plan to keep the city's streets safe for pedestrians."
" 'Curb Your Car Month' organizers include UTA Rideshare, the Salt Lake City Mayor’s Office, the Salt Lake County Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Committee, the Salt Lake City Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Committee, and the Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective."
"Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson said his city has seen a 50 to 70 percent drop in federal police funding since 2002. 'In 2005, Salt Lake City received only $1.2 million in federal funding for law enforcement,' he said. 'At least 10 federal grant programs for local law enforcement were eliminated between 2002 and 2005, and police departments are being asked to do more with less funding.' "
A six-month search to replace former Salt Lake City Fire Chief Tom Tallon is near conclusion as Mayor Rocky Anderson announced Thursday that Chuck Querry was his choice to head the 354-firefighter department. Querry needs an official vote of confidence from the City Council, but Anderson said approval for the local man, who won out over applicants nationwide, is a foregone conclusion. 'I received written support from about 95 percent of the fire department, so I would say that's a pretty good indication he's the guy,' Anderson said."
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"The city put red flags in containers that pedestrians can carry across intersections and wave at drivers. Overhead lights that pedestrians can activate were installed at intersections. Undercover police ticketed drivers who failed to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks. Salt Lake City also promotes walking around downtown by making it a better experience. Outdoor dining is now encouraged, ordinances were changed to make signs more interesting, artists and performers are allowed on public sidewalks. As a result, accidents involving pedestrians fell 36 percent, to 114, in the first 11 months of 2004, from 177 in 2001. The STPP ranked Salt Lake City the most improved city for pedestrian safety."
"According to Salt Lake City police, pedestrian injury accidents—a growing concern all over the Wasatch Front—are down since the program started. There were 119 last year, a decrease of 31% since 2000."
"Touting the city's growing reputation as bicycle-oriented, Anderson said, 'We want to keep ramping that up.' The city plans to install 20 new bike racks downtown. A partnership with the Utah Transit Authority will bring bike lockers to five TRAX stations."
"Rocky Anderson is more determined than ever to create conditions where crossing a downtown street doesn't turn into a run for your life."
"During Wednesday's retirement ceremony, Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson read a proclamation honoring Manning. Manning was made an honorary chief and his badge No. 1 was retired, the equivalent of having a sports jersey retired. Manning humbly said he didn't expect any of that Wednesday. In fact he said he was "overwhelmed" by all the attention."
"Last year, the Fire Department's Public Education Division increased Citizen Emergency Response Training to Salt Lake City residents by fifteen percent. The Department also improved its capacity to handle hazardous materials with an enhanced haz-mat unit and new decontamination equipment. That is all life-saving progress." - Rocky Anderson, 2007 State of the City Address
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"The improvements aren't part of the city's Olympic preparations. 'They would have been made anyway because they're part of our pedestrian-safety initiative,' said Anderson spokesman Joshua Ewing."
"I knew something had to be done...I'm the Mayor, I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that pedestrians are more visible and we're going to save lives." - Rocky Anderson
"More than 100 cyclists took to the streets of downtown Salt Lake City Friday, May 16, to celebrate biking as an alternative form of transportation. Led by Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson, the group started at the Gallivan Center and rode a 4-mile loop to kick off the eighth annual UTA Rideshare Bike Bonanza."
"Executive Order by Mayor Rocky Anderson, 2007. Salt Lake City’s Complete Streets Ordinance requires the City’s streets to be designed, operated, and maintained for all modes of traffic, including people walking, biking, and for travelers of all ages and abilities."
" 'This new precinct is the embodiment of our community's resolve to stop crime,' Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson told a group of officers, city officials and neighborhood residents attending the ribbon-cutting ceremony."
" 'I am excited to work with Denny [McKone] in his new capacity as acting Salt Lake City fire chief,' [Mayor Rocky] Anderson said. 'Denny's tremendous past service and experience will benefit city government and all residents enormously as he assumes his new role.' "
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