Mayor Ralph Becker has joined Sen. Chris Buttars in backing a controversial proposal that would protect cop misconduct records from the prying eyes of citizens.

In short, Becker and Buttars are buds. I'll bet the majority of SLC voters never thought they'd hear that sentence. Many of Ralph's supporters are, as another blogger put it, "tased and confused."

Ralph, who tends to display about as much emotion as a contented gecko, wisely had his mouthpiece give us the news. "On the advice of our police chief, we support it," she said. "It's a sensible thing to do."

Here's why Chief Burbank says the bill is "sensible": Buttars' Law, SB260, will deprive the public of police brutality and other misconduct records in the same way Salt Lake County already bars its citizens from determining who its cowboys are. It's logic only a cop could follow.

Police recently have been gunning down citizens from South Salt Lake to Brigham City. In between, a Highway Patrol Trooper in Tooele County tasered a stopped motorist for not obeying him quick enough. You can watch the fun here. Most of these acts were likely justifiable — but we can only be sure if we see the records.

Becker (at left displaying SLCPD's latest non-lethal weapon) want to make it harder to pry open these cases to find out what really happened.

Want an example of the kind of poop Buttars' Law could hide? Police Association President Tom Gallegos got caught last year for sending graphic photographs and sexually explicit messages over a work e-mail account and for nasty comments he made to a female co-worker.

When the SLCPD blocked a public request for Gallegos' disciplinary records, it was overruled by an appeals board and we got to see what the union leader was up to. Even then, Gallegos only got hit with a written reprimand.

Gallegos, like Ralph, is a big supporter of Buttars' Law.