Salt Lake City leaders focusing on three areas to bring crime down

SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City leaders say crime is down in the city.

Specifically, Mayor Erin Mendenall and Police Chief Mike Brown say violent crimes are down 4.5 percent. In an effort, to bring those numbers down even more, Brown says his department is now focusing on small portions of the city.

“About five percent of these small areas in any urban city account for about 50 percent of crime,” Brown said. “That’s an amazing statistic. And five percent of offenders account for the majority of violent crimes. So, we are looking at a strategy to take an effect on those areas and those offenders.”

Those areas are known as the Pioneer Patrol, the Central, and the Liberty Patrol divisions.

Crime down in Salt Lake City

Mendenhall says those three divisions have seen violent crimes go down significantly from August 2021 to August 2022.

According to the mayor, Pioneer Patrol saw 33% fewer violent crimes in that 12-month period. The Central saw a 28% decrease in violent crime, while Liberty Patrol had a 71% decline in violent crimes.

Calls for service are still up, and response times by police are improving. However, the department is dealing with a staffing shortage.

Mark Jones contributed to this article.

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