Detective on the McCluskey case fired for mishandling another young woman’s domestic violence case
Aug 23, 2019, 2:09 PM | Updated: Dec 30, 2022, 11:27 am
The detective criticized for how she handled the Lauren McCluskey case has been fired, accused of not acting fast enough on another young woman's domestic violence complaint. Photo of Lauren McCluskey provided by the University of Utah
SALT LAKE CITY – The University of Utah Police detective who took several calls from Lauren McCluskey before her murder was fired after the department said she mishandled another young woman’s domestic violence report.
That information comes from newly released documents from the University of Utah about police detective Kayla Dallof.
The documents indicate that, on February 14, a 17-year-old girl told Detective Dallof that her boyfriend trapped her in a dorm room. The boyfriend also attends the university. She was able to escape, but he then left a voicemail message threatening to kill her.
Detective Dallof had taken the report and interviewed the suspect that day.
In another report, Sgt. Kory Newbold claimed Dallof told him she’d forward the voicemail message but she did not. Instead, she took off for the weekend, returning February 19th.
Dallof is also accused of saying she’d screen the girl’s complaint the next week.
Dallof’s actions are called a “dereliction of duty” because the University of Utah had implemented a zero-tolerance policy on domestic violence reports.
The department says they met with Dallof about the new policy in January, but she claims she thought the meeting was a debrief on the McCluskey case specifically.
Dallof was criticized for her handling of the McCluskey case in October 2018. She’s accused of taking several of McCluskey’s calls then going on vacation.
