By Ashley Silver
Police1
SALT LAKE CITY — The Grand County (Utah) Sheriff’s Office announced it will be holding sensitivity and diversity training after a video went viral of a deputy attempting to subdue a Black man with a lasso surfaced.
KSL News spoke with Jeanetta Williams, president of the NAACP’s Salt Lake branch, who says Sheriff Steven White shared the news with her last week about the department’s additional training. Williams contacted the sheriff following a KSL report about the incident.
“We had a good conversation,” Williams told KSL News. “And in talking to him, I took him at his word. He’s going to ask for my input and I told him to call me anytime.”
Deputy Amanda Edwards can be seen on the video walking past homes and shops, twirling a lasso in the air intermittently for roughly 30 minutes, speaking with those around her about what she was doing. She never located the man she was searching for during the video. Edwards later stated she was joking.
According to disciplinary documents acquired by KSL News, Edwards was suspended for two days without pay. She was also placed on a 90-day corrective action plan, which requires Edwards to complete 18 hours of training on conduct and use of force.