Summary

Incident Characteristics: On average, 95% of the incidents included the use of a warrant between 2014-19.

  • Warrants were obtained in the vast majority of the reported incidents between 2014 and 2019. Tactical groups typically obtained warrants at a higher rate than non-tactical and drug-task force groups.

  • Forced entry occurred on average, in 52% of the incidents reported between 2014-19.

2019 Annual Report: As expected the largest share of incidents ocurred in Utah’s largest counties in year 2019.

  • A total of 19 Counties reported one or more incidents in year 2019. Nearly 40 percent of these incidents occurred in Salt Lake County, followed by Utah County (23%) and Weber County (10%).

Reason for Warrant: The reason that a Judge issued a warrant pertained to suspected drug crimes in more than 75 percent of the warrants being used.

  • The vast majority of warrants pertained to drug crimes (77%), followed by non-violent persons crimes (11%), violent crimes against persons (6%) and property crimes (4%).

Defining Warrant Types: Four types of warrants were issued, invloving both knocking and no-knocking types.

Break-down of Warrant Type: The most commonly issued warrant was “Knock & Announce-Day, which represented 54 percent of all warrants.

No-Knock Warrants: The share of No-knock warrant varied by county, with some counties utilizing this type of warrants more than others.

  • The share of No-knock warrants varied by county, with some counties utilizing this type of warrant more than others. This difference may however, be explained by the reason for warrant and other factors that could explain disparities in their utilization.

  • Note that here we only include Counties that reported more than five incidents.

Incident Outcomes: Evidence was seized in more than 90 percent of the reported incidents.

  • Evidence was seized in 94 percent of the reported incidents, with property being seized 13 percent of the time.

  • Weapons (including non-firearms) were brandished by suspects in 13 of the 400 reported incidents (3%). One incident involved firearms being used by suspects.

While the highest number of arrests was 23, most incidents resulted in one individual being arrested.

  • The mean number of arrests across all incidents was 1.8 (median=1, min=0, max=23).

  • Two of the reported incidents resulted in officer shots, with five civilians being injured and one reported fatality.

  • There were no reported injuries or fatalities among law enforcement personnel.

  • One of the reported incidents resulted in an animal being injured, with no reported fatalities.

Additional Data Points

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Additional Data Points

Enriching Current Data:

  • Under new data sharing agreements, pairing these data with general population counts, socio-economic indicators, and demographics would allow us to analyze these incidents/warrants by different geographical areas.

  • This could for example, yield insight on whether there are differences in the use and nature of these warrants by those below/above per capita income levels as well as relate these measures to race-ethnicity data and other informative data points of interest.

  • Link to Census Data

Background & Data

Background & Data:

Utah Code Ann. § 77-7-8.5 directs all Law Enforcement Agencies to document and report incidents where a forcible entry is made and/or a tactical group is deployed. To facilitate these reporting requirements, a Utah Law Enforcement Transparency (LET) reporting interface was added to the Utah Criminal Justice Information System (UCJIS) in 2014. Law Enforcement agencies throughout the state utilize the UCJIS-LET site to report tactical group deployments and forcible entry incidents as they occur throughout the year. A “Reportable Incident” means:

  • The deployment of a tactical group or law enforcement officers who serve a search warrant after using forcible entry or;
  • A “Tactical Group” (SWAT, Drug Task Force, etc.) means: A special unit, within a law enforcement agency, specifically trained and equipped to respond to critical, high-risk situations.

The Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice (CCJJ) is tasked with summarizing these statutory requirements. It should be emphasized that the information presented in these reports are only as accurate and complete as the data submitted by each individual law enforcement agency.