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City attorney, police ask council to designate WestFest area as potential 'gang' zone to allow dispersals
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Summary
City Attorney Eric Boonderson and Lieutenant Levi Lloyd presented a resolution to allow officers at WestFest to identify gang-related dress or behavior and order people to leave the event area or face trespass charges; council members asked about objective criteria and public notice.
Eric Boonderson, the city attorney, and Lieutenant Levi Lloyd of the police department asked the West Valley City Council to designate the WestFest event area as a potential gang-designated zone during the festival so officers can order individuals displaying gang-related dress or behavior to leave the premises.
"The short answer is it allows officers at West Fest to identify, like, gang behavior, dress mainly dress or activity, and then... ask them to leave the premises, essentially," Lieutenant Lloyd said, describing the tool as similar to an approach used by Taylorsville Days last year. Boonderson explained the legal framework the city would use to grant officers that authority.
Boonderson told the council the designation requires collecting information from various sources and consulting experts and that the city’s gang unit and partner organizations would assist with identification. "You may also just look into your own hearts, essentially, is what the statute says," he added while describing the discretion the statute affords.
Council members pressed for specifics. One council member asked, "What objective criteria is it? Or do you know these individuals ahead of time?" Lieutenant Lloyd said criteria often include dress, group behavior and gang signs, and noted federal documentation can support identifying documented gang members by tattoos or admissions. He said Taylorsville used the designation to tell troublemakers to leave and that it resulted in no prosecutions because people complied when asked.
Council also asked whether the public would be notified; Boonderson and Lloyd said the statute does not require posted signs at event entrances. Lloyd said the department would deploy its gang unit and work with MetroGangs and other experts when implementing the tool.
No formal vote on the proposal was recorded at the study meeting. Council members were given the presentation and an opportunity to ask questions; the item was discussed during the study session and proponents said the tool is intended to give officers a non-prosecutorial way to rapidly address disruptive group activity during a large event.
Next steps: The presentation was heard at the study meeting; council action or placement on the regular meeting agenda was not recorded during this session.
