In his otherwise excellent column on police reform (“Now is the time for these major police reforms,” Jan. 17) Robert Gehrke missed an important factor -- the hiring process.
When I was involved in hiring for an operations manager, the interviewee got around to a question before I did when he said, “I know you are wondering why I’m not a cop any more, my problem was the other cops.” When asked to elaborate, he talked of situations where he was the first responder or arresting officer, and things were calm and under control until other cops showed up who would escalate the situation with their bad attitude towards the person in question. He said this happened so often he had to get out.
Many people know of classmates who were bullies who have gone into law enforcement. Former Salt Lake Police Chief Chris Burbank is on record stating that the problem of police brutality starts with the sort of person we hire to be cops. This factor might not be one best dealt with via legislation but it is a significant part of the larger problem of excessive police violence.
Tom Patton, Salt Lake City