The officers who patrol Salt Lake City schools will undergo more training in an effort to cut down on the number of students who are arrested for minor offenses.
“There is a difference between a student with a cellphone in the classroom and a student with a firearm,” said Mayor Jackie Biskupski in announcing a new contract between the school district and the police department Tuesday.
The school district was widely criticized after a 2010 police roundup of West High School students who officers suspected of having gang affiliations. Between 14 and 40 teens — all of them black, Latino or Pacific Islander — were detained, questioned and falsely accused of being in gangs, according to a later lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union.