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Legislators are looking at reining in the cases where police can use a "no-knock" warrant to burst into someone's home while searching for evidence of crimes or to make an arrest, but police groups are worried the proposed changes may tie law enforcement's hands.

SB82, sponsored by Sen. Steve Urquhart, R-St. George, would require police to wear clearly identifying clothing when they conduct such a raid and, if the department has body cameras, officers would have to be wearing a camera and have it running.

"You can imagine if someone comes barreling through your front door, if you see it's law enforcement, there likely would be a different reaction than if it's just someone wearing jeans and a T-shirt," Urquhart said.

SB82 would also require a district court judge —­ rather than a justice court judge ­— to approve the warrant, and seeks to set a standard for the severity of the crime being investigated in order to justify a no-knock warrant.

Urquhart said Monday he is hoping his bill starts a discussion on the issue in the Senate Law Enforcement Committee, but isn't ready to move it through the legislative process until some law-enforcement concerns are worked out.

Utah County Sheriff Jim Tracy, speaking on behalf of the Utah Sheriffs' Association, said it is important the Legislature get the balance right, and not "crush the ability to take major crimes off the street."

Urquhart said he thinks 99 percent of Utahns would agree that no-knock warrants should only be used in significant cases and he hopes to be able to find a way to define that better in the bill.

Salt Lake City ended up paying $75,000 to an elderly resident whose door was rammed in by police, who then pointed guns at her during a mistaken drug raid in 2012. The intended target of the no-knock warrant was the house next door and Chief Chris Burbank acknowledged problems with the raid soon after it took place, saying policies and procedures were not followed.

Twitter: @RobertGehrke