This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Sheriff Jim Winder grew tense as he addressed recent criticism of a policy that restricts inmates' admission into the Salt Lake County jail during a news conference Friday.
The policy was put in place a year ago in an effort to reduce overcrowding and focus on more effective alternatives for treating people with addictions and mental-health issues, Winder said.
"The officers, myself included, we have lived in a culture for many years in which the solution to many of our problems was [to] arrest," Winder said, but the policy challenges that type of thinking. It prioritizes booking people suspected of felony and serious-misdemeanor crimes, such as abuse, domestic violence and driving under the influence, though officers may request an "override" of the policy for people they believe would endanger the public if released, Winder said at the conference.
"To my understanding, a very small percentage of those individuals who have requested overrides have been denied that," he said.
While funding for the jail has been stagnant year after year, the Salt Lake area has seen increases in population, crime, homelessness and the number of officers in the field, he said. Those circumstances put pressure on the jail, which has been at capacity for years.
In 2015 — before this policy was in place — the jail was "inching up to nearly 7,000 overcrowding releases," Winder said. "That is 7,000 people that are brought to our jail, processed and simply walked out the door."
Any entity with a finite budget must make decisions based on triage, he said.
Some community members and officers in agencies that use the jail — such as the Salt Lake City Police Department — have discussed frustrations regarding the policy, SLCPD Detective Greg Wilking confirmed Friday evening, but "it's a difficult and complex situation."
"There's a drastic need for jail space, and we plan to continue to work with other agencies" and the sheriff for solutions, Wilking said.
Not all of the 3,000 officers in the Salt Lake Valley will understand the "macro" of this complicated issue, Winder said at the conference, but he expects administrators in various police agencies to explain the predicament.
He does "not blame officers for being frustrated," Winder said, and he takes seriously complaints police bring to his office.
Winder has been talking with legislators, he said, to remedy the jail's difficult situation, though he did not give details as to what they're discussing.
The jail policy will remain in place as long as funding remains stagnant, he said.
"I'm not here to criticize or to critique the other agencies," Winder said, "and I really wish other people wouldn't critique ours."
Twitter: @mnoblenews