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Mendenhall’s new homelessness and safety plan pushes for more policing, state help

Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall unveiled a 50-page report that detailed the steps the city, state and other stakeholders should take to improve public safety and address homelessness in Utah’s capital city, Jan. 16, 2025.
Sean Higgins
/
KUER
Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall unveiled a 50-page report that detailed the steps the city, state and other stakeholders should take to improve public safety and address homelessness in Utah’s capital city, Jan. 16, 2025.

When it comes to public safety and homelessness in Salt Lake City, “we have not done enough,” said Mayor Erin Mendenhall on the steps of city hall. “And that responsibility lies with me.”

Her proposal to turn it around is a 50-page plan she announced on Jan. 16. It’s a response that follows a December letter from Gov. Spencer Cox, Speaker of the House Mike Schultz and Senate President Stuart Adams for a comprehensive proposal to “restore public safety” to the capital city.

The report details 27 actions the city can take, like an increased police presence in certain parts of the city and the addition of more emergency shelter beds. It also includes 23 recommendations that would require collaboration between the city, state, county and other stakeholders.

As she announced the plan to reporters at city hall, Mendenhall said they are prepared to accelerate the expansion of its shelter bed capacity. The shortage is, according to the mayor, as large as 1,600 beds at times. This would be accomplished by using a city-owned property for a temporary campus facility for up to 24 months. The operating costs though, she said, would need to be allocated by state and philanthropic partners.

“This interim facility can bridge the gap while the state constructs its permanent low-barrier campus to further address the shortage of deeply affordable and permanent supportive housing,” Mendenhall added.

According to the city’s plan, this temporary facility will create approximately 1,000 shelter beds and address what Mendenhall called a “consistent lack of space.”

“There is a desperate need for more housing, more shelter, more treatment and more jail space than we currently have.”

The city plans to invest an additional $5 million into deeply affordable housing in the 2026 fiscal year, the mayor said. It will also improve its network of support services for people experiencing homelessness.

“We cannot police our way out of homelessness, but we can make the public feel safer as we expand system resources to meet the needs of our unsheltered population,” she said. “Let me be clear, being unsheltered is not a crime, but public safety matters.”

Crime has decreased overall in recent years according to statistics. However, homelessness in Utah has risen by 9% since 2022 and 38.2% since 2019.

“Both of these things can be true at the same time,” Mendenhall said, “crime can statistically be down across the city, and yet what people see on our streets can make them feel unsafe, and it is our responsibility to address both.”

Homelessness has been a central topic of discussion in Salt Lake City in recent years.

Mendenhall successfully ran for reelection in 2023 under heavy criticism from her opponents over her administration’s handling of the issue since the start of the pandemic. Mendenhall expressed her frustration with the status quo in her announcement.

“Our system is fed up, our city is fed up, and our police officers are fed up, the system does not work for the highest need and highest impact individuals experiencing homelessness, and more must be done to control the cartels and the fentanyl crisis that's on our streets.”

The increased police presence the mayor announced was for downtown and other higher-crime areas like the Jordan River trail and Ballpark neighborhood. She had a stark warning for anyone who breaks the law.

“The Salt Lake City Police Department will enforce public order offenses,” she made clear. “We will cite or arrest individuals who are committing crimes, and they will face consequences to the fullest extent of the law, including jail.”

In a written statement, the ACLU of Utah was skeptical, saying “any plans that impact our unsheltered communities must respect their civil liberties and dignity.” Legal Director Jason M. Groth said criminalizing homelessness does neither and he pressured government leaders to “appreciate that this approach has consistently failed our communities, housed and unhoused alike.”

Utah’s political leaders, Cox, Schultz and Adams, did not respond directly to any of the details in the plan in a statement of their own. They acknowledged however that “the safety and well-being of all Utahns is and will continue to be our common goal.”

“We look forward to collaborating with Mayor Mendenhall, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County and all stakeholders to take meaningful action, implement the plan and restore public safety and confidence in our capital city,” they wrote.

Earlier in the day at his monthly news conference, Cox told reporters he appreciates Mendenhall’s attention and approach to homelessness and safety. Ultimately, the city will be judged by its actions and how the plan is implemented.

“The plan is nothing more than the paper it's written on,” he said. “It's the execution of the plan that's going to really matter, and we look forward to collaborating on that execution as well.”

Mendenhall’s plan calls on legislative intervention to provide funding and other assistance, as well as buy-in from other levels of government and organizations that directly deal with these issues.

“If we take these bold, clear and necessary actions across systems in concert and not at odds with one another, we will be able to achieve the outcomes we desperately need and expect.”

Sean is KUER’s politics reporter.
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