Media Alert
PIO
Press Release
DPS Statement following the Derek Chauvin guilty verdicts
The Utah Department of Public Safety remains committed to humanity, justice and equity for everyone within our state’s borders. We honor the inalienable rights of the people and the rights that DPS officials are constitutionally sworn to protect.
Over the past year, we have worked to build important relationships with stakeholders in the police reform movement spurred by Floyd’s death. Our outreach within the multicultural, social justice reform and religious communities in our state has led to numerous codified reforms, both in policy and law, to which law enforcement officers statewide are now held accountable.
We worked quickly with the Utah Legislature in June 2020 on legislation banning knee-on-neck and other choke holds by Utah law enforcement officers.
Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST), working with the Utah Legislature, has updated and is updating its curriculum to include more training for vetted and legal arrest control techniques, crisis intervention training, modern mental health awareness, and updated de-escalation techniques.
We are committed to future reform efforts, including transparency, training, accountability, punishment of officer misconduct, community engagement, fairness, and social justice.
We join Governor Cox in urging Utahns who plan to respond to the verdict to do so within the bounds guaranteed by the First Amendment. We will respect personal safety, life and property. Any threats against such will not be tolerated.
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