US: District Attorney says officer who refused to work at Pride should quit policing

Illustrated rainbow pride flag on a pink background.

The District Attorney for Salt Lake County has said that a police officer who refused to work at a gay pride parade should quit policing altogether.

An unnamed male Salt Lake City police officer was placed on paid leave on Saturday, after he refused to work at the Utah Pride parade.

The District Attorney for Salt Lake County, Sim Gill, has said that the officer should not work as a police officer.

He told Fox: “If he wants to make that statement then maybe he should be in a different profession than this one.

“We cannot qualify the delivery of that service, that we promise to a community based on individuals who say, ‘well I’m going to pick and choose which call to respond to, which fire to put out or which person to serve’.

“Do you want the fate of your loved one to be qualified upon the personal beliefs of this agency that is supposed to be responsible to render aid or support?

“We can not let that be the qualifying or distinguishing aspect of delivery of that service, because if we do, then we are all in trouble.”

Police spokesperson Lara Jones said on Saturday: “If you refuse to do an assignment, that’s going to be a problem inside the police department.

“The vast majority of officers, when they come to work, they understand that they leave their personal opinions at home and serve the community.”

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