By Tori La Rue | [email protected]

West Jordan, Utah - During the July 14 city council meeting, West Jordan Police Chief Doug Diamond expressed his thanks for the “overwhelming support” his department received amidst the nationwide controversy over law enforcement and resident trust.

“We’ve had an outpouring of well-wishes, sympathies and thank yous to our police officers, to my office, of people dropping by, wanting to express their thanks,” Diamond said, describing the response of the West Jordan community after the July 7 shooting in Dallas that left five police officers dead.

“Right now in our society, we are going through a rather dark time where people do not trust police officers,” Diamond said, naming “the media” and “some public officials” as the reason why trust is diffusing. “Some of them are making judgments about whether an officer acted appropriately or inappropriately before all the facts are in. That’s a tragedy.” 

Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, and Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, both African-Americans, were shot and killed one day apart by police officers, leading to peaceful protests and outright upheaval from citizens throughout the country, but despite the confusion across the country, Diamond said the West Jordan community expects its police officers to do the right things.  

“We appreciate your support as the council, the other staff members in the city, and our community. We have overwhelming support,” Diamond said. “Are there a few naysayers out there? Yes, there are, but we have overwhelming support.” 

“Though officers make mistakes—of course they will; they are only human—they are asked to do extraordinary things under extraordinary circumstances, dealing with individuals who in some cases want to take their lives or do them harm, but they do their job day in and day out, and this community supports them.”

Mayor Kim Rolfe thanked Diamond for him words, asking him to tell the rest of his department that the city council believes the police force to be West Jordan’s heroes. Councilmembers Zach Jacob and Jeff Haaga made similar remarks. 

“We try our best to do the best that we can in an unbiased, professional manner, and we will continue to do that,” Diamond said. “I just thank you for all of your support.”