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Utah police are less diverse than Utah itself

Posted at 7:48 PM, Jun 23, 2020
and last updated 2020-06-23 21:48:32-04

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah law enforcement is far from diverse. In numbers provided by the Utah Department of Public Safety, FOX 13 News has learned that officers in Utah's police departments, jails and prisons are over 90 percent white.

Utah as a whole is 78 percent white.

The numbers aren’t all-inclusive because Utah Police Officer Standards and Training (P.O.S.T.) which is the state body with oversight over law enforcement, does not require police to report ethnicity. They also didn’t start keeping electronic records before 2005, so veteran officers aren’t included. All told. The numbers represent two thirds of all sworn officers in the state.

Utah’s population as a whole is quite a bit more diverse:

Here are the numbers provided to us from Utah DPS including the “unknowns:”

Correctional Officer

African-American140.57%
American Indian/Alaskan Native90.37%
Asian/Pacific Islander512.07%
Hispanic943.82%
Unknown81433.06%
White1,48060.11%
2,462100.00%
Law Enforcement Officer
African-American250.50%
American Indian/Alaskan Native140.28%
Asian/Pacific Islander791.58%
Hispanic1743.48%
Unknown1,61532.27%
White3,09761.89%
5,004100.00%
Law Enforcement/Correctional Officer
African-American20.21%
American Indian/Alaskan Native20.21%
Asian/Pacific Islander111.14%
Hispanic293.01%
Unknown26227.21%
White65768.22%
963100.00%
Special Function Officer
African-American10.26%
American Indian/Alaskan Native10.26%
Asian/Pacific Islander123.17%
Hispanic205.29%
Unknown12934.13%
White21556.88%
378100.00%