Utah state Rep. Carl Albrecht, R-Richfield, is pursuing a resolution honoring law enforcement and first responders.
The move comes as anti-police brutality protests continue across the country in the wake of police killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville.
The resolution, which hasn’t been publicly released yet, expresses support for law enforcement and first responders like firefighters and EMTs.
Albrecht said there are a few bad apples in law enforcement, but most are good at what they do.
“We get officers killed all the time,” he said. “We should appreciate and respect those folks for the dignity and the bravery, the reliability that they exhibit each and every day.”
But Utah Against Police Brutality organizer Jade Arter argued that Albrecht is missing the point of recent protests, which are calling for accountability in law enforcement.
“It does kind of say that, you know, we aren't going to listen to what you're coming out to say,” Arter said. “We're going to stand over here and defend these people, regardless of the pain that [families] feel from losing a loved one.”
Since protests started in late May, the state Legislature passed a bill that bans police from using chokeholds to restrain people, and Gov. Gary Herbert mandated implicit bias training for all state employees.
Sonja Hutson covers politics for KUER. Follow her on Twitter @SonjaHutson
