SALT LAKE CITY — As Ron Stallworth tells it, gang members thought Utah police were a joke.

“One kid,” Stallworth recalled in an interview with FOX 13 News, “even said, ‘Coming to Utah and dealing with you guys is like going to Disneyland,’ which really pissed me off.

“I probably violated his rights a little bit when I grabbed him by the neck, pushed him against the wall and told him to never talk to me or any other Utah cop in that manner.”

To Stallworth, the badge was a tool to make a difference. Stallworth’s difference was… different.

His infiltration of the Ku Klux Klan in Colorado Springs, Colorado, became a book that Spike Lee turned into the film “BlacKKKlansman,” a somewhat-fictionalized account of the Black cop Stallworth fooling America’s foremost bigots.

Stallworth’s new book, “The Gangs of Zion: A Black Cop’s Crusade in Mormon Country,” picks up a few years later, mid-1980s Salt Lake City. It reads like a Western as much as a memoir. In so many words, Stallworth is the confident stranger who arrives to clean up the town, if not the whole state.

GANGSTERS: UTAH STYLE

The Utah Department of Public Safety hired him to be a narcotics officer. After seeing Utah had burgeoning gangs, which Stallworth credits himself as recognizing before others, Stallworth ditched the undercover work for on-the-streets regulating.

“I knew I was right,” Stallworth said of the self-confidence that runs through the book. “I knew I could back up the things that I was saying.

“I never said anything that I wasn’t prepared to get on the witness stand, put my hand on the Bible and say, ‘I do’ to the judge.”

Stallworth writes in the book about seeing Bloods and Crips from Los Angeles arriving in Utah. They created new crack markets.

A report Stallworth sent his superiors circa 1987 recommended that the state start an anti-gangs task force. That task force exists to this day. Stallworth was assigned to it.

Stallworth soon noticed a made-in-Utah shift — young white men claiming to be Bloods and Crips.

“And my partner, who is a devout Mormon,” Stallworth told FOX 13, “cracked up when he heard it, and I was cracking up with him because we had never heard of white Bloods and Crips.”

“They also say they’re Mormons.”

That partner was Salt Lake City police officer Kevin Crane. He died in 2016. Stallworth dedicates “Gangs of Zion” to him and compliments Crane throughout.

In video below, Stallworth talks about his partner on the gang task force, Salt Lake City’s Kevin Crane.

Stallworth talks about Crane

But in a Western, for every great partner, there’s a crop of locals who are more hinderance than asset. That’s how a lot of Utahns come off in “Gangs of Zion.”

CHECK YO SELF

Stallworth writes about a visit to Price where he found gang graffiti all over town, including near the rear door of the police headquarters where the chief entered every day.

That chief, Aleck Shilaos, spoke to FOX 13 News by phone. Shilaos contends that no one, including Stallworth, actually found gang members in Price. And that’s a point of pride for the long-retired chief.

Price had gang prevention efforts in place, Shilaos said, that included communication with the school district and speaking with parents every time a kid was caught drawing a gang sign on a wall.

“And it worked,” Shilaos said. “But we did have wannabes — don’t get me wrong — at the junior high level.”

To Stallworth, Price was an example of what he saw across Utah. Leaders were applying for grants targeting gangs while also telling the public they didn’t have a gang problem.

“They kept falling back on the old dodge,” Stallworth said. “‘This is Utah. Utah is white. Utah is conservative. Utah is primarily Mormon.’”

Speaking of that last point, Stallworth describes one co-worker’s effort to convert him to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Stallworth responded with some pointed questions centered on race.

Let’s just say there was no further attempt by that co-worker to add Stallworth’s name to the membership rolls.

“Gangs of Zion” also touches on Stallworth becoming an authority on rap lyrics, complete with testimony before Congress. There’s a cameo by Ice Cube during a concert stop in Utah.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The memoir does not have a storybook ending.

Stallworth was removed from the gang task force in 2000 over what he describes as bias. It wasn’t the racial kind.

Stallworth contends that his superiors at the Utah Department of Public Safety favored cops who came up through the state trooper ranks. Stallworth was re-assigned to the state’s concealed firearm permit program.

Below, Stallworth discusses his final five years — or was it four? — as a police officer in Utah.

Final years with DPS

Meanwhile, Stallworth and his wife, Micki, were raising their two children in Davis County. Micki Stallworth, who met her husband in Colorado Springs, died of cancer in 2004. Stallworth describes an episode at work in the midst of grieving that aggravated his anguish.

His 19th and final year at the department — there was supposed to be a 20th — concluded not so much in a ride into the sunset as a hop onto a stagecoach that was going anywhere but where he was. While he still has family in Utah, Stallworth has remarried and moved to El Paso, Texas, where he grew up.

Now age 71, Stallworth isn’t on any book tours.

“I’ve been diagnosed with prostate cancer,” he told FOX 13 News. “I’ve had surgery. It’s stage one.”

“The bottom line is,” Stallworth added, “there are too many people in the world left for me to piss off, and I’m going to write another book and address it all.

“And I’m not going anywhere.”

If you continue to perform the same action over and over again, expecting a different outcome, that is the definition of insanity.

Wyoming’s offense has looked no different from their opener in Tempe to last night’s game against BYU.

Coach-speak isn’t the answer.

Staying the course isn’t the answer.

SCORING SUMMARY

1st Quarter (7-0 BYU Advantage)

5:58 – 20-yard pass from QB Jake Retzlaff to WR Keanu Hill (Will Ferrin PAT)

Wyoming 0 – BYU 7

2nd Quarter (10-7 BYU Advantage)

9:12 – 3-yard pass from QB Jake Retzlaff to WR Kody Epps (Will Ferrin PAT)

5:11 – 2-yard run by QB Evan Svoboda (John Hoyland PAT)

Wyoming 7 – BYU 14

0:45 – 49-yard field goal by K Will Ferrin

Wyoming 7 – BYU 17

HALFTIME

3rd Quarter (17-0 BYU Advantage)

14:45 – 100-yard kickoff return for WR Keelan Marion (Will Ferrin PAT)

Wyoming 7 – BYU 24

9:42 – 37-yard field goal by K Will Ferrin

Wyoming 7 – BYU 27

0:02 – 20-yard pass from QB Jake Retzlaff to WR Darius Lassiter (Will Ferrin PAT)

Wyoming 7 – BYU 34

4th Quarter (7-0 WYO Advantage)

6:29 – 1-yard run by QB Evan Svoboda (John Hoyland PAT)

Wyoming 14 – BYU 34

FINAL

BYU COUGARS 34 – WYOMING COWBOYS 14

WYOMING PLAYER OF THE GAME

N Wrook Brown – The most impactful defender, Brown came up with an early interception to stymy the Cougars’ redzone offense. He had chances to bring down another pick or two, but was unable to come down with them. Showcasing his role as an on-field leader, Brown will need to maintain his efforts if Wyoming looks to find their first win of 2024.

GRADES

Offense – D-

The score doesn’t reflect how anemic this side of the ball has been since Jay Sawvel has taken over in Laramie.

Alex Taylor, writer for WyoSports, reported on the newly-updated statistics as of Sunday.

*These rankings are out of 133 FBS teams

Total offense: 132nd (201.7 yards per game)

Scoring offense: Tied for 130th (11.3 points per game)

Passing offense: 128th (114.7 yards per game)

Rushing offense: 120th (87 yards per game)

Only two out of 12 drives ended in points.

QB Evan Svoboda had moments of solid play, throwing receivers open and delivering darts.

Alas, that is still far and between – exemplified by a 43.8% completion percentage.

The running game was nowhere to be found.

Sam Scott, D.J. Jones and Dawaiian McNeely combined for 19 carries and 45 yards.

2.36 yards a carry is not going to cut it.

Even the return of John Michael Gyllenborg was underwhelming – the tight end didn’t record a single reception.

Many fans clamored for one of Wyoming’s backup QBs (Jayden Clemons or Kaden Anderson) to get some snaps in the 4th quarter.

That did not happen.

Sawvel made it known to the media after the game that his confidence in Svoboda has not wavered and that the Pokes have played two P4 teams in their first three games.

Wyoming plays North Texas in Denton, Texas, next week.

If a similar performance occurs in the Lone Star state, change should be expected.

Defense – C-

As the offense goes, so does the defense.

The thing is, I can’t blame those under Aaron Bohl’s leadership to have a tough time maintaining their defensive fortitude.

If you know the offense isn’t going to do squat when they get the ball back, motivation is hard to come by.

The defense held strong in the 1st half, limiting BYU to 17 points and keeping the Cowboys in the fight as they went to the locker room.

However, Cougar QB Jake Retzlaff found his rhythm coming out out of the half – finishing the game with 291 yards and 3 TDs.

I will say that outside of Retzlaff’s improvisation when forced out of the pocket, Wyoming held the run game in check – limiting BYU to 78 yards.

An interception by Wrook Brown prevented the Pokes from losing the turnover battle.

Special Teams – D+

Punting can only curve your performance so much.

Credit to Jack Culbreath and his ability to flip the field – he had eight chances to do so.

But when you allow a kick return touchdown right out of halftime that swings momentum violently in one direction, the fallout is on you as a unit.

A potential three-and-out on BYU’s opening possession of the second half could have been massive.

That TD put the game out of reach due to the Cowboys inability to march down the field when in possession.

Kicker John Hoyland converted two PATs, but nothing more.

WHAT DOES THIS RESULT SIGNIFY?

Not even a storied rivalry going back to 1922 was able to turn this ship around.

Sometimes, teams can have disappointing starts, yet, they see a bright light up ahead and know that the season will get better.

Wyoming?

You lost your lone FCS game and haven’t looked anywhere near competitive against two Big 12 teams expected to finish in the middle-to-bottom tier of the conference.

More importantly, I haven’t seen any contagious energy on the sideline or buzz within the team.

Lethargic, melancholy…you can pick whatever adjective you like.

But a team under a new head coach should never evoke this feeling three games in.

GOING FORWARD

North Texas.

Your last non-conference opponent before Mountain West play begins.

The Mean Green are 2-1 with not much on their resume.

A 52-38 win @ South Alabama.

A 35-20 vs FCS Stephen F. Austin.

A 66-21 loss @ Texas Tech where UNT gave up 52 points in the 1st half.

As of now, DraftKings favors North Texas by nine points.

Barring a miraculous turnaround after the bye week in early October, this team will not go bowling.

Mountain West cellar dwellers have improved (New Mexico, Utah State, San Jose State).

The Cowboys’ next two games are arguably their easiest left on the schedule (UNT and Air Force).

Jay Sawvel, Evan Svoboda, and everyone associated with Wyoming football need a win in the next two weeks.