Latest news with #HouseLawEnforcementandCriminalJusticeCommittee
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Do ticket quotas put pressure on police officers?
In 2018, the Utah Legislature passed a bill saying police agencies should not set ticket or arrest quotas for their peace officers. But even after the bill was signed into law, Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross said some agencies were still enforcing quotas. 'None of us want to question when we're pulled over. 'Am I being pulled over because I did a serious infraction, or am I being pulled over because this officer had to have one more ticket before he ended the shift for the day?'' Weiler said during Tuesday's House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee meeting. 'Nobody really wants that incentive for law enforcement.' His bill, SB243, would amend current law on quotas by prohibiting the setting of quotas for a specific number of tickets issued but not prohibiting quotas based on citizen interactions. According to Weiler, Bountiful has already implemented a citizen interactions quota. This means that warnings and other interactions can meet a peace officer's quota rather than requiring a ticket amount. To motivate officers during their shifts, Weiler advised implementing performance metrics so that agencies can evaluate them based on community engagement and enforcement activity. 'I like our police. I believe in them,' Weiler said. 'I believe that most of them are doing the right thing for the right reasons.' 'This bill is kind of an incentive to make sure that the policy that we adopted six or seven years ago is enforced with the understanding that they can require their police to work and not just watch Netflix all day, but they can't require them to go out and write so many tickets on each shift or each week.' The bill passed the House committee favorably with an 8-0 vote.
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
For third year in a row, Utah lawmakers shoot down secure firearm storage law
Firearms and ammunition are stored inside a safe at a Salt Lake City resident's home on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch) For the third year in a row, Utah lawmakers shot down attempts to pass a safe firearm storage law, which imposes certain penalties on people who fail to secure their guns. The bill, HB132, failed after a 4-4 vote Friday morning during a House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee meeting. Per House rules, if a bill receives a tie vote during a committee meeting, it fails. Sponsored by Rep. Andrew Stoddard, D-Millcreek, the bill would have imposed a class C misdemeanor called 'failure to secure a firearm resulting in a minor gaining access.' Anyone 18 or older who fails to secure their loaded firearm — which includes using a gun safe, trigger lock or other method — could be penalized if a minor accesses the gun and uses it in an 'unlawful' way. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX It's aimed at penalizing instances where children find their parent or guardian's unsecured firearm, and use it to commit a crime. It wouldn't punish parents for unintentional shootings, where their children find a gun and accidentally shoot themselves, or suicides. For the last three years, Stoddard has tried to pass some kind of safe storage bill. And each year, the bill has had fewer teeth. In 2023, it would have imposed criminal penalties on anyone who failed to safely store a firearm; in 2024, it would have imposed criminal penalties for people who fail to secure their firearm if it's accessed by someone who isn't supposed to have a gun, like a child or restricted person. 'There's not really any lower we can go to at this point,' Stoddard said earlier this week. The penalty 'is the same as speeding in a school zone. If I have a loud party at my house, it's a class C misdemeanor.' There are 26 states that have some kind of law around securing firearms. Stoddard says his bill is similar to a Florida law that holds adults criminally liable if a child gains access to their firearm and wields it 'in a public place' or 'in a rude, careless, angry or threatening manner.' Utah sees three children shot unintentionally in one month, renewing calls for firearm storage laws 'This isn't something novel. This isn't making Utah a trailblazer. There are other states that have taken up this issue, it's not just blue states,' said Stoddard during the committee meeting on Friday. Although the bill ultimately failed, he told Utah News Dispatch that a 4-4 vote is the closest his safe storage bills have come to getting out of committee and to the House floor. He plans on bringing it back next legislative session. The rejection of Stoddard's bill comes on the heels of three instances this summer where children under 10 years old unintentionally shot themselves after finding an unsecured firearm. Two of the shootings were fatal, involving a 5-year-old boy who found a handgun in his parents' bedroom and an 8-year-old boy who shot himself in a car while his mother was inside a gas station. Although HB132 wouldn't have imposed criminal penalties on the parents in these instances, Stoddard and other gun control advocates say that having laws on the books to encourage safe storage could still reduce the number of unintentional shootings. 'I can't say that this is going to prevent these situations had the law been in place … but I think it sends a message that we care enough to do something,' Stoddard said. 'This doesn't target suicides, but would it help with suicides? Absolutely.' The data back up that claim. A study this year from the Rand Corporation showed secure storage laws result in a decrease in unintentional firearm injuries and deaths among children. A 2020 study published in the National Institute of Medicine found that firearm negligence laws resulted in a 15% reduction in firearm homicides, a 12% reduction in firearm suicides and a 13% reduction in unintentional firearm fatalities, all among children under 14 years old. And according to an older study, published in 1997 in the National Institute of Medicine, unintentional shooting deaths among children younger than 15 years old decreased by 23% after states passed a secure storage law. The bill did face some opposition from gun rights groups — a spokesperson from the Utah Shooting Sports Council said there are already negligence laws in place, and told the committee on Friday that the group didn't feel like the state needs additional legislation. And the group Women for Gun Rights said the bill was a 'slippery slope,' telling lawmakers that Utahns should be able to access their firearms quickly. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Utah House committee shoots down bill penalizing unsafe storage of firearms
Utah lawmakers voted for the third straight year against a Democrat-led bill addressing the safe storage of firearms on Friday. A proposal to hold adults accountable in some circumstances if they fail to lock up a firearm used by a minor to commit a crime was shot down. Rep. Andrew Stoddard, D-Sandy, has proposed similar bills in previous years, though his latest attempt has been watered down from what he previously pushed. In 2023, he ran a bill that would have required firearm owners to securely store weapons when they were not being used and imposed a fine for those who failed to comply. After that failed to clear an initial vote, he proposed the same legislation last year, with the same result. Stoddard changed his approach during the 2025 legislative session and sponsored HB132, which creates a class C misdemeanor charge for adults who don't secure a firearm — but only if a minor uses it to commit a crime. The bill has carve-outs that protect a firearm owner if the minor obtains the firearm by unlawfully accessing the storage area, if it is used in self-defense or if the person reports to police that a minor obtained their firearm. It also allows owners an affirmative defense to prosecution if they 'took reasonable precautions to ensure that the firearm was properly secured and not accessible to a minor.' 'This statute is really the lowest level we can go,' Stoddard told the House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee Friday. He said it's unlikely the statute would be used often, but said it's a necessary accountability tool in cases where kids take a parent's gun to school or use it to commit other crimes. 'If we're not willing to support this low level of firearm responsibility, we just have to say, 'OK, we're fine with these kids committing these crimes with the firearms,'' he added. State law already has a section that says parents can be held accountable if they give their child a firearm, but Stoddard said a different section provides an exception and makes it difficult to charge under the statute. The bill was supported by the Utah Parent Teacher Association and the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office. Brett Robinson, a senior attorney in the office, said gang crimes are often committed by minors who obtained a firearm from a parent or guardian. 'It's better for us to respond to these crimes at a lower level and make sure we have that responsible gun ownership in the homes,' he said. 'A lot of the times they're getting these guns from home and I think this is an appropriate way to address that and perhaps cut down on the more serious crimes that we are asked to look into.' The bill was opposed by the Utah Shooting Sports Council, a gun rights organization, which argued that the existing code already addresses the issue and further legislation is unnecessary. HB132 ultimately failed after a 4-4 vote. Two Republicans — Reps. Melissa Ballard, R-North Salt Lake, and Lisa Shepherd, R-Provo — joined Stoddard and Rep. Sandra Hollins, D-Salt Lake City, in favoring the bill. Three members of the committee — all Republicans — were absent. The full House of Representatives voted to approve another firearm safety bill later Friday. HB104 requires that schools provide firearm safety instruction to students, which the sponsor said will reduce the number of accidental shootings. Three such shootings occurred during a several-week span last summer resulting in the deaths of two children, aged 5 and 8. 'It's important that these kids that don't have firearms in their homes — realistically this ought to be taught by their parents — but a lot of times when they don't have any firearms in their homes or do any hunting or shooting, these kids are not taught what to do when they come in contact with a firearm,' said Rep. Rex Shipp, R-Cedar City. He said the school instruction could take 'five or 10 minutes' and could be done by video or other similar means. The bill requires two firearm safety trainings per year for elementary school students and one for middle and high schoolers.
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Kids are getting propositioned in virtual reality, and right now it's legal
In Utah, it is a felony for an adult to reach out to a minor via text to meet up for sexual relations. But if the adult propositions a minor in virtual reality, that isn't illegal. 'Many mistakenly believe that because something happens in the digital space, it isn't real or harmful, but for a child, these experiences are psychologically damaging,' Rep. Verona Mauga, D-Salt Lake County, said Thursday during the House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee meeting. So far in this year's legislative session, bills regarding crimes against children appear to be highly unifying issues across party lines. Mauga's bill, HB358, was no exception. Passed with favorable recommendation by the committee, HB358 creates the following criminal offenses: Using virtual reality to participate in sexual activity with a child. Requesting sexually explicit conduct from an individual who is in custody. Mauga said the bill 'targets offenders hiding behind avatars' and 'makes it clear that virtual reality is not a loophole for predators, and it ensures real consequences for virtual crimes if an adult is knowingly using VR technology to engage in sexual activities with a child.' Because it is not always clear what age a person is when participating in VR, Mauga clarified that the bill applies to people who 'knowingly' engage in sexual acts with a minor. Brett Robinson, senior attorney in the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office, who spoke on the bill, shared a case where he had to seek a warrant for a Snapchat account. In this case, Robinson said a mother had found her 11-year-old daughter who had fallen asleep with her VR headset on. When she went to lift the headset off her daughter, she found messages sent to her daughter via Snapchat by an adult. The messages were along the lines of wanting the little girl to return to VR so they could participate in sexual relations again. Robinson said it was a 'friend of a friend' whom the girl had never met in person. He also spoke on the second criminal offense included in the bill. Robinson said that requesting sexually explicit conduct from an individual who is in custody was included in the bill because of a separate but similar situation where, under a technicality, it wasn't illegal. 'These are two ways where the laws don't protect the ways that people will use technology to harm vulnerable people.' According to a study that came out last year by Florida Atlantic University, significant numbers of minors have reported experiencing various forms of harassment while in virtual spaces. The study examined 5,005 13 to 17-year-old kids from the United States and found the following statistics: Nearly 19% encountered sexual harassment. Around 21% faced undesirable violent or sexual content. 18.1% encountered grooming or predatory conduct. 30% were targeted for characteristics including weight, sexual preference, sexual orientation or political affiliation. Girls were reportedly targeted more in terms of sexual harassment and grooming/predatory behavior. 'Right here in our state, in Utah and across the country, we are seeing adults engaging in cyber sex with children using virtual reality, and there is no legal mechanism to protect our children,' Mauga said. 'I think it would be prudent of us to do what we can to protect them.'
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Yahoo
Utah's battle against fentanyl: Legislation targets traffickers
Emotions ran high during a House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee meeting Wednesday, regarding proposed drug trafficking legislation. 'Over 600 times last year in the state of Utah, someone came home and found their son, daughter or parent deceased from an opioid overdose,' Rep. Matthew Gwynn, R-Farr West, the bill's sponsor, said during his opening remarks. He lost both of his parents to opioid overdoses. 'This is not new or common to Utah. Unfortunately, it's getting worse,' Gwynn said. 'In fact, this year, we're on track to outpace the number of deaths we had last year.' A nearly 24-year career in law enforcement, Gwynn said so often he's been on the receiving end of a 911 call where an individual was in hysterics after walking in on a loved one who was unresponsive. He said he's made a deal with his children where they cannot call him if they're too upset, because those emergency calls will replay in his head. The bill, a revised version of HB87, would treat fentanyl traffickers to a higher degree of prosecution than any other drug trafficker. If a person is found with 100 grams in weight or greater of fentanyl or a fentanyl-like substance in the state of Utah, the bill states that the person will be charged with a first-degree felony with prison presumed to follow. Gwynn acknowledged that each case has its circumstances and judges will maintain their discretion, but 'We have to do something with this particular narcotic,' Gwynn said. 'Fentanyl is the worst of the worst, and so we're going to create a policy that says if you're trafficking the worst of the worst, then you're the worst of the worst. You need to be in prison.' Last year, the state broke its record for most fentanyl pills seized. According to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the DEA's Rocky Mountain Field Division had confiscated close to 800,000 as of late July. The committee passed the first revision of the bill unanimously with favorable recommendations. The bill will be heard next in a Senate committee. 'Unlike the rest of the nation, where fentanyl deaths are declining, that's not holding true for the state of Utah,' Criminal Defense Attorney Mark Moffat said during the meeting where he voiced his support for the bill. The Utah Office of the Medical Examiner, in a recent press release, reported that fentanyl is now the most common drug in overdose deaths: Deaths involving fentanyl surged by 1160.9% from 2014 to 2023. In 2023, there were 290 fentanyl-related deaths, a significant rise from just 23 in 2014. The number of fentanyl deaths more than doubled between 2019 and 2020 and has continued to climb rapidly since. The reality is that Utah is not used for traffickers to pass their drugs through, but rather the destination because of the demand here, Gwynn said. 'The problem is it isn't just tablets coming in Utah. The weight of powder coming into Utah is increasing and can be fatal if it goes airborne,' he said. As little as two milligrams of fentanyl can be fatal, per the DEA. Gwynn also warned that carfentanil — an opioid used to tranquilize elephants — is being trafficked into the state, which the DEA also warned is about 100 times stronger than fentanyl, making it deadly at around two milligrams, depending on certain factors. Jackie Larson, from Spanish Fork, told the Deseret News she lost her sister Crystal last October to carfentanil. Larson said she was so naive in regard to the drug that when she received her sister's belongings, she didn't know what to do. 'I felt like one little grain of it lands in your eyeball, and you're gone,' she said. Larson took the belongings to the police station, where she was told to double glove, take the clothes outside to shake out, and then proceed to put them in the washer. During her public comments during the meeting Wednesday, Larson said that her sister never stood a chance against the lethal drug. 'If you ask me, I don't think 100 grams is enough' to charge a first-degree felony, she said. Upon learning that her sister had passed away, Larson said her first two calls were to her sister's ex-husband and daughter. 'I don't want someone to go through what I had to go through. What my niece is going through, what my sister went through,' Larson said, urging lawmakers to pass the bill. Following the unanimous motion to accept the substituted bill, Rep. Mark Strong, R-Bluffdale, and Rep. Ryan Wilcox, R-Ogden, shared their own stories of loved ones whose lives were cut too short by fentanyl-related deaths. Wilcox emphasized the importance of openness in addressing drug abuse in Utah. 'I think if we're all being honest with ourselves, we all know somebody (affected by drug abuse) at this point,' he said. 'There's a lot of stuff to unpack, but as we have these conversations in our communities, and we're honest with them about what's happening and what we're seeing,' more action will take place to combat the issue.
