A prominent attorney said Tuesday that two homeless Utahns spent more time in his house during a break-in than they did in jail after they were arrested, a lopsided equation that he contended underscores a failure in how Salt Lake County handles criminals.
“This is not a partisan issue,” Bruce Baird told County Council members Tuesday afternoon. “I would believe that public safety is your number one job here, and you’re failing.”
A representative for County Mayor Jenny Wilson, however, said Wednesday that Baird is wrong and that the men were not released that soon.
Baird’s blistering comments come months after he said two unsheltered individuals broke into his downtown Salt Lake City home while he was away.
In an interview Tuesday after his remarks to the council, Baird explained he was out of town in mid-April when two men invaded his house, stole a credit card, helped themselves to food in his refrigerator, showered in his bathroom, took his clothes, drank his alcohol and watched his television.
“They just kind of ransacked the place,” he said.
Baird monitored the men through his security system and contacted Salt Lake City police. Officers responded quickly, he said, and took the burglars to jail.
Baird, who often represents big-money developers, said the two crooks were out of custody about as quickly as police could complete the paperwork. Although the intruders spent some eight hours in his house, he said, they spent less than 80 minutes in jail.
“[Salt Lake County’s] Pretrial Services [program] should not be letting homeless felons out on the streets without doing some time in jail,” Baird told the council. “You need to fund the jail better. You need to manage the jail better. You need to instruct Pretrial Services that criminals should not be getting out of jail that fast.”
The county’s latest response
The county’s Pretrial Services program allows arrested individuals who meet certain criteria to be released from jail while they await a court hearing. Criminal Justice Services, a division of the county’s Department of Human Services, administers the program.
Chris Jones, spokesperson for the mayor, said Wednesday that the two men were arrested April 9 in the invasion and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail.
A judge ordered one of the suspects into Pretrial Services as a condition of his release, Jones said. In most cases, Jones said, Pretrial Services conducts its assessment when a judge orders it.
Because this suspect had warrants in Davis County, Jones said, he was released into the custody of that county and held for three days.
The other suspect was not released to Pretrial Services after his arrest, according to Jones. He was freed from the county jail 72 hours after his arrest.
Both men face a felony count of burglary, court records show.
The vast majority of the time, Jones said, inmates who are released to Pretrial Services successfully go through the program.
Contacted Wednesday about the county’s latest response, Baird said that his information was based on what police told him.
‘Get out of jail free’?
“Homelessness should not be a get-out-of-jail-free card,” Baird said Tuesday. “The homeless felons should spend more time in jail than they do in my house.”
Baird implored the council to step up on public safety issues, saying the county could face the risk of experiencing problems at the same level of cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle.
“This is your responsibility,” he said. “If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.”
Council Chair Aimee Winder Newton responded to Baird’s comments publicly during the meeting, saying, “Boy, do I hear him.”
“I wish that we could keep people in a little bit longer,” she said, “so that we could actually have that be a deterrent.”
Winder Newton said quick releases from custody don’t necessarily fall on the jail. In many cases, she noted, judges decide when arrested individuals need to be released.
“I know this council is fully committed to public safety,” she said. “We have funded the asks that the sheriff has put in front of us.”
Why releases happen
Brittany Karzen, spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, said Tuesday she could not comment specifically on Baird’s case because she did not have the details.
She said the benefit of the program is that it keeps people connected to the community. Her office often receives questions, however, about why some suspects are released quickly after being arrested.
“We understand that,” Karzen said, “But we’ve made decisions as a community to be able to find innovative ways to keep people connected, to reduce the number of individuals we have incarcerated so we can maintain space for violent offenders.”
Baird doesn’t buy it, calling that explanation “buck-passing.”
“Pretrial Services does nothing, as far as I can tell,” he said. “... They seem to be more concerned about criminals than they are about the victims.”
