This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated.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.

Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County and the state of Utah have created a plan to combat the growing lawlessness around the Rio Grande Depot — jailing real criminals and providing mental health and drug addiction treatment for struggling individuals. But implementation is breaking down because the governing entities are not adequately coordinating.

As a state senator, I blamed Salt Lake City for allowing the situation to deteriorate. Salt Lake City points at the county, claiming police can't enforce laws, because the county won't jail criminals. Salt Lake County brings it full circle, pointing at the state Legislature for failing to fund necessary mental health and substance abuse treatment.

Finger pointing isn't a horrible start. During the Super Bowl, watch the offensive line. To succeed, the linemen will communicate before the ball is snapped, actually pointing out to each other possible threats. Similarly, it might be okay that government officials are pointing out threats and assignments, if the finger pointing leads to collaboration and action.

Government clearly is not ignoring the issues around the Depot. The city polices and cleans the area daily. The county provides significant treatment opportunities. Along with funding courts and court-based treatment strategies, the state will help fund treatment programs and shelters. But, other than the brief chimera of Operation Diversion four months ago, the efforts are not being properly coordinated.

City Mayor Jackie Biskupski correctly points out that the county thwarts treatment and promotes lawlessness by refusing to process people into jail, which is required for Level of Service Inventories (LSIs) to sort out homeless addicts from the embedded criminals who prey on them. County Mayor Ben McAdams correctly points out that, without funding treatment, the state's Judicial Reinvestment Initiative (JRI) adds to the county's financial burden by reclassifying felony drug offenses down to misdemeanors. And the state correctly points out that the city and county have multiplied the problems by not devoting adequate resources over the years and, now, by failing to collaborate.

It is time for action. Salt Lake City must build the dispersed resource centers. The concentration of facilities and services in the Rio Grande area places an unmanageable burden on one part of town.

When Salt Lake City residents see uncontrolled lawlessness in the Rio Grande area, they cannot have faith that the dispersed treatment centers won't just move problems to their neighborhoods. Salt Lake County must help stop the lawlessness, by processing people who are arrested — moving addicts into treatment and criminals into jail. Everyone is put in jeopardy, including homeless individuals and police officers, if criminals know they will not be jailed for offenses.

The state needs to complete JRI by funding treatment. The state also should convene public hearings to investigate whether the three pillars of public safety – policing, courts and jails/treatment — are coordinated for success.

The city, county and state have important assignments. Now that they have helped the other entities identify their assignments, each entity must step up and take care of its own assignments. Let's put our plan into action to benefit individuals, businesses, and the community.

Steve Urquhart is a former Utah state senator who lives in Salt Lake City.