SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Three police officers have invoked their right against self-incrimination in the seven use-of-force investigations completed so far this year by Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports officers across the country have been refusing to give statements to prosecutors for years, but Salt Lake City-area officials, including Gill, believe the trend is generally a response to increasing public criticism of police.
Utah Fraternal Order of Police attorney Bret Rawson says Utah police officers have historically cooperated in these investigations. He says he has been advising clients not to speak because he and others in law enforcement don’t think Gill is “capable of rendering judgment over these officers in an unbiased fashion.”
Gill says he decides cases based on facts and the law.
