The Salt Lake City Racial Equity in Policing Commission maintains an active mandate to evaluate the policies, culture, and budget of the Salt Lake City Police Department. Led by Chair DeTria Taylor, the commission is tasked with developing a racial equity plan for the department and making formal recommendations to the Mayor and City Council.
Core Commission Mandates
The commission's primary responsibilities include examining the Salt Lake City Police Department's internal operations and engaging directly with the public to gather community input. According to the City of Salt Lake City, the group is specifically charged with studying national best-practice policies for policing and exploring methods to increase diversity within the police workforce.
Beyond direct departmental oversight, the commission holds the authority to review the current structure of the Civilian Review Board. Members may evaluate various national models and present recommendations to city leadership on how to improve the effectiveness of that board.
Inter-Agency Collaboration
The commission's work involves a collaborative relationship with the Salt Lake City Human Rights Commission. Before any recommendations are finalized for the Mayor and Council, the Racial Equity in Policing Commission must share its findings with the human rights commission.
Following this review, the human rights commission may issue a formal position of support or opposition regarding the proposed recommendations. Additionally, the racial equity group may review existing recommendations from the human rights commission and issue its own statements of support or opposition on matters relevant to its specific goals.
Membership and Eligibility
The commission's current membership is led by Chair DeTria Taylor and Vice Chair Katherine Durante. Other active commissioners include Lisia Satini, Steven Calbert, Julia Summerfield, Chloe Raymundo, Diya Oommen, Gloria Mensah, Cenezhana Rokhaneevna, Aleksei Hernandez-Nietling, Atiyah Appline, and Daryl McCall.
While the city's records show three vacancies currently exist on the commission, the membership requirements stipulate that all commissioners must be at least 16 years of age. While members do not need to be residents of Salt Lake City, they are required to maintain strong ties to the city and demonstrate the potential to be affected by the work of the Salt Lake City Police Department.
Reporting and Accountability
The commission tracks its progress and accountability through a series of published reports and annual reviews. Since its codification, the commission has utilized annual reports to provide year-end reviews of its current recommendations and to track status updates on various priorities, noting which items are complete, in progress, or remain incomplete.
Available historical records include annual reports from 2022, 2023, and 2024. The commission's documentation also includes foundational reports such as the Phase 1 Report from June 2021 and the Phase 1 SLCPD Response Report released in September 2021.
Administrative Procedures
All formal recommendations made by the commission to the Mayor and City Council must be submitted in writing and presented during a scheduled council meeting. Administrative oversight for the commission is managed through the Office of the Mayor, specifically via the Impact Manager, Michelle Mooney.
