By Christopher Smart
The Salt Lake Tribune
Prescription for dealing with crime in Salt Lake City: social workers and bicycle cops.
In something of a surprise Tuesday night, the City Council, in a 4-3 vote, decided to hire eight social workers to aid police interacting with homeless people and eight bicycle-patrol officers. It also would bring on 15 additional officers if the city lands a federal grant.
Presently, police in the Metro Division spend a significant amount of time referring the homeless to service providers. The move to bring in social workers would free up officers for other duties, according to the proposal from Councilman Stan Penfold.
“We have officers who are currently doing social services,” he said. “The police could guide the social workers. ... We need to give the police department the resources to get people into treatment.”
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