Salt Lake City Council has voted to provide funding for 50 new police officers.
The Salt Lake City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to set aside funding to hire 50 new police officers, as well as additional support staff in the crime lab and social work office.
Salt Lake Police Chief Mike Brown and Mayor Jackie Biskupski had previously requested only 27 new officers.
The request for new officers is in response to two-year multi-agency effort to oversee a problematic area around a downtown homeless shelter that has strained the police department.
The city council's move will lead to a nearly $5 million adjustment to this year's budget and could result in a tax increase next year.
