It’s been one year since Salt Lake City launched a new court tailored toward individuals struggling with mental health, addiction or homelessness and so far, the data looks promising, with dozens of people who previously had hundreds of run-ins with police now steering clear of the criminal justice system.
The city’s new, aptly named “Familiar Faces” program works with people who have had multiple contacts with Salt Lake City Police officers in recent years, resulting in dozens, sometimes more than 100, low-level, nonviolent charges during their life.
That mostly includes class B and C misdemeanors like trespassing, illegal camping, theft or criminal mischief.
Most of the participants are struggling with homelessness and have acute, untended mental health needs. Rather than the traditional pathway, which for these cases is usually through the Justice Court, they come into court once a week to create and provide updates on a personalized plan that often involves enrolling in rehab or mental health services.
Offenders charged with violent crimes, domestic violence or driving under the influence are excluded. As long as they don’t pick up additional charges during the program and follow through with their plan, they “graduate,” meaning the charges against them are dropped.
From what prosecutors describe, it’s not your typical court. Judge Clemens Landau doesn’t sit on the bench but instead joins the defendant, their public defender, a prosecutor and social worker at a roundtable.
Landau will often trade his judicial robe for a less imposing T-shirt, and makes lunch for the participants. As they share a meal, the participant will talk about their immediate needs and barriers to self reliance. With help from a social worker, they’ll leave their first court hearing with a plan, then check in each week.
Paige Williamson, the Familiar Faces prosecutor, said some of the participants compare it to meeting with family.
“Forever, the criminal justice system has been tasked with dealing with the symptoms of homelessness. This program, in contrast, is dealing with the root cause,” said Williamson, who described the court as a friendly, welcoming place to have difficult and complex conversations.
And data from the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office suggests it’s working. The program currently has 30 active participants charged with 210 offenses — an additional 26 have graduated and only seven exited without finish the program during the first year.
Those 26 graduates had a combined 195 contacts with Salt Lake City Police the year before they entered the program. Since graduating, they’ve had a combined 40 contacts.
“That isn’t perfect, but it’s still a vast improvement from where we started,” said Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill. “Think about how much we’re saving taxpayers, in terms of contact. How much we’re saving if law enforcement is not out there dealing with them.”
Gill, who also serves as a prosecutor for Salt Lake City, pointed to a handful of success stories. Some of the people entering the program have been arrested and charged with more than 100 offenses in their lives.
One man had a rap sheet 146 charges long. Since graduating, he’s had only two contacts with police, which Gill said were camping-related as he worked to secure housing.
One participant had 124 interactions with police, one had 26, and another had 18; since graduating, none have been picked up by officers.
Not everyone stays completely off law enforcement’s radar. Gill referenced one person who had 16 interactions prior to the program and since graduating, has picked up nine charges.
“That’s still better than 16. These are not things that are one-and-done. These are things that you have to make long-term investments in,” Gill said. “The goal here is to stop their frequency of cycling through the criminal justice system and try to minimize their contact with law enforcement.”
Chris Manberg, a defense attorney who often serves as the court’s public defender, said one of the program’s main goals is to build trust among a generally distrustful population.
Most of the participants have untreated physical or mental health issues, grew up in homes with violence or sexual abuse, and became unsheltered because of circumstances beyond their control, he said. Some get charged with a low-level offense, but want nothing to do with the justice system, miss their court date and wind up with a warrant out for their arrest. That jeopardizes their housing opportunities, food stamps, Medicaid and other benefits. Instead of facing a fine or small penalty, a vicious cycle ensues where they wind up incarcerated, costing taxpayers and creating a permanent barrier to self reliance or sobriety.
The Familiar Faces program is an attempt to break that cycle.
“For many, it’s the first time in their life that they can see people within the system trying to help them, trying to reduce barriers to their success. And for many, for the first time in their life they start developing trust, they feel more supported and they feel less stigmatized,” said Manberg.
So far, he says, “it’s been a massive success.”
Kyle Dunphey covers politics, public safety and the environment for Utah News Dispatch. He was named Best Newspaper Reporter by the Utah Society of Professional Journalists in 2023 for his work on crime and immigration at the Deseret News.
