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If listening is the key to better understanding between law enforcement and residents on issues of police use of lethal force, then the cultural comfort zone looks to be a long way off.

On Wednesday, Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker hosted the first of three town hall meetings, which began calmly and ended on rowdy notes of shouts and jeers.

Two recent Salt Lake City police-involved shootings were broached late in the meeting following a lengthy tutorial by Police Chief Chris Burbank, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill and Salt Lake City Civilian Review Board investigator Rick Rasmussen on law enforcement policies that can lead to the use of lethal force.

About 75 people gathered for the event at the Salt Lake City Main Library. The meetings are being held, the mayor explained, to bring law enforcement and residents together to discuss challenges and seek potential solutions. "So we can be a model community ... that can avoid these situations as much as possible."

Burbank and Gill told the audience that the country's criminal justice system is challenged.

"Policing is one of the most difficult jobs in society," Burbank said. "But we should never tolerate poor police work."

Gill noted that police-involved shootings — like that of Avenues resident James Barker, who attacked an officer with a snow shovel during intense questioning — should provide a learning moment for law enforcement officials.

"We would be fools, as a society, if when these things happen, we don't learn something from them," he said.

Gill, Rasmussen and Burbank stressed the various independent reviews of such shootings.

But panelist Karen McCreary, the executive director of the ACLU of Utah, noted that Salt Lake City and Utah could do more to reduce officer-involved shootings.

And answers were lacking when the panel was asked about the Aug. 11 shooting death of 20-year-old Dillon Taylor in the parking lot of a convenience store near 2100 S. State.

Salt Lake City officers responded to a call regarding a man with a gun. Taylor, who was walking away from police, turned around and lifted his shirt, and was shot dead. He was not armed.

The D.A., the police department and the Civilian Review Board all found the shooting justified. Gill said it was the most difficult of some 50 officer-involved shootings he has reviewed.

Officer Bron Cruz told investigators he feared for his life. And that is the standard by which officers can use lethal force, Gill noted.

McCreary said Salt Lake City and Utah lag behind much of the nation on "independent investigations" of officer-related shootings.

One questioner asked Burbank why the officer who shot Barker allowed the situation to degrade to the point that lethal force was necessary. Another audience member called out: "Did he use his de-escalation skill?"

The officer suffered two fractures during the attack and attempted to use a Taser, according to police, before shooting Barker.

As was the case at a similar town hall meeting last week hosted by The Salt Lake Tribune, the session became rowdy, with audience members shouting down panelists and demanding that police change lethal force policies.

The mayor's next town hall meeting regarding law enforcement issues is scheduled for March 4 from 6-8 p.m. at Lincoln Elementary School, 1090 S. Roberta St.