Deseret News
Legislators laud reform bills, but activist says legislation fell short and will seek ballot initiatives
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Yukai Peng, Deseret News
SALT LAKE CITY — To Lex Scott, founder of Black Lives Matter Utah, the Utah Legislature’s 2021 general session fell short of enacting real, meaningful police reform.
The Legislature this year approved a slew of measured bills — some highly watered down, but many supported by community activists, minority community leaders and law enforcement officials — to implement incremental changes to increase de-escalation training, collect more data on use-of-force incidents and clarify rules around use-of-force standards.
But Scott wasn’t at all satisfied.