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Show Veteran Officer Ciles Heed Of Utah Coroner Editor's Note: This Is the seventh sev-enth article in a series es plaining plain-ing the views and the Intended actions of those men In Utah concerning themselves with the need for a stato coroner's law. Utah Uws are "shorting" the public when it comes to providing the best possible' law enforcement machine and fullest Investigation of unexplained sudden deaths of human beings, Rulon Bennlon, president of Utah Peace Officers' Assn, and a veteran state highway high-way patrolman, said Ssturday. "Call him a stste medical examiner, exam-iner, a coroner or identify him b any other conveniently appropriate appropri-ate title, there should be an overall over-all iUU authority ikllled in a variety vari-ety of sciences related to criminology criminol-ogy and charged by law with ths duties of assisting peace officers wherever his services are needed and signing death certificates In all cases of unexplained sudden death, Mr. Bennion said. - Joins Others Thus, ths head of ths state's principal organization of peace officers of-ficers with membership including includ-ing local, county and stats peace officers, Joined a group of other public and quasi-public persons favoring fa-voring revisions of Utah laws to provide better criminal Investigation Investiga-tion and law enforcement. "In some localities and among some groups, police work hss too long been regarded as a device used only in a great or small degree de-gree for the Investigation of crime and apprehension of criminals, whereas ths work hss become equally as great a fores for protecting pro-tecting Innocent persons, he said. 'In Utah wa lack solid statutory statu-tory support for building an all-around all-around law enforcement machine . capable of protecting Its citizens as well as investigste crimes and apprehend criminals," ths veteran peace officer declared. Cites Delays As a member of ths stats high-may high-may patrol whose duties deal largely with traffic control and regulation, Mr. Bennion recalled that twice in 1946 the department was forced to break the continuity continu-ity of an investigation into a traffic traf-fic fatality to await scientific examination ex-amination of evidence sent to distant dis-tant laboratories. "A chain of evidence and each of its links must be forged and maintained unbroken to be of real value in prosecution of a case," Mr. Bennion observed. "The chances of avoiding such breaks are increased by having necessary neces-sary tools to work with reasonably near the focal point of an Investigation." Investi-gation." v Like soma others who havs expressed ex-pressed themselves concerning apparent ap-parent Inadequacies of Utah statutes. stat-utes. Mr. Bennion said he did not think "discretionary latitude and ' seeming division of responsibility" for investigating unexplained sudden sud-den deaths is conducive of good law enforcement He suggested ths next legislature legis-lature eliminate existing ambiguities ambigui-ties so as to strengthen law enforcement en-forcement In Utah. |
