- Salt Lake City and the Department of Corrections launched the TOPS program.
- The initiative targets legally competent repeat violent offenders for swift legal action.
- District Attorney Sim Gill emphasizes deterrence and offers treatment as an alternative.
SALT LAKE CITY — A new collaboration between Salt Lake City and the Utah Department of Corrections aims to swiftly deal with the worst repeat violent offenders in the city.
On Thursday, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall, Police Chief Brian Redd, District Attorney Sim Gill, and Department of Corrections Deputy Executive Director Rebecca Brown stood side-by-side as they announced the Targeted Offender Partnership Strategy, or TOPS program.
Last year, the city unveiled Project CONNECT, which focused on repeat offenders who primarily commit misdemeanor crimes and may not be legally competent to stand trial or have limited functional capabilities. The TOPS program announced Thursday will target those who are both legally competent and functionally capable and have been flagged in the city's database to be at-risk of committing a violent crime.
Letters were recently sent to 114 people notifying them that they were now on the TOPS list. The letter informs the individual that "based on your documented criminal history with the Salt Lake City Police Department, you have been identified for inclusion in the Targeted Offender Partnership Strategy program.
"As a result, your actions will receive heightened attention from SLCPD and its law enforcement and prosecutorial partners. Effective immediately, any new criminal conduct by you will result in a focused and accelerated law enforcement response," the letter continues.
"You do not want to be on that list," Gill said Thursday. "My goal is to deter you from wanting to be on this list."
The list is based on an objective analytical process, according to Redd. It includes people who either have current charges, have been convicted and are about to be released from prison, or even those who have minimal criminal records but, as an example, "keep showing up" at gang-related shootings, the chief said. The crimes the 114 are accused of committing or have been convicted of include drug-related charges, kidnapping, assault, sex crimes and even murder. Gill notes that those currently charged with murder but who have cases still ongoing in court will be removed from the list if they are convicted and sentenced to the Utah State Prison.
To get off the list, offenders either agree to treatment and do not commit any new offenses for three years or they simply go to prison. The 114 people on the list, however, will be under "heightened scrutiny," Gill said. Any new offenses will be dealt with swiftly, and it won't be "business as usual."
"Whatever your experience with criminal justice is, forget it," he said. "My prosecutors are not going to lose sight of you."
Typically, offenders anticipate their cases will drag through the legal system once they're accused of committing a new offense, Gill said. Under the partnership announced Thursday, the DA says an arrest warrant will be issued that night for a person on the list who commits a new offense, and they'll be in court the next day.
"And that is a game changer," Gill said.
He said two prosecutors have been assigned to monitor the 114 people in the TOPS program, as well as an additional 15 to 20 people from the Salt Lake City Police Department and the Department of Corrections in the field.
"Bottom line is we're not going to tolerate criminal behavior from these individuals. But we also want to offer them an off-ramp, and if they want to choose that off-ramp, we're there for them," Redd said.
The letter given to the offenders informs them that "the responsibility of avoiding further criminal activity rests solely with you. ... If you commit new crimes, you should expect swift apprehension and aggressive prosecution."
Mendenhall calls it a surgical approach to address the needs of repeat violent offenders.
"I don't think I've ever been more proud of the Salt Lake City Police Department and the strategy that is being deployed," she said.
