2019
Finalist | Comprehensive Safety
Orem (UT) Police Department
State: UT
Resources
Orem (UT) Police Department | 2019 Comprehensive Safety Executive Summary
Overview
The City of Orem (UT) Police Department has always been a forward-thinking department that is very concerned about its employees. Innovation is encouraged at all levels within the Department whether it is making suggestions on how to improve a process or suggestions on employee recruitment and retention. We take great pride in our community outreach and the positive effects that has within our community. Our current police department social media following exceeds 54,000 people.
Orem is a city of approximately 99,000 residents located 40 miles south of Salt Lake City along the 1-15 corridor. The City is home to the Utah Valley University (Utah’s largest state university in terms of enrollment) with a student population of around 35,000. There is no on-campus housing so students either live nearby off-campus or commute to the school each day, making traffic in Orem an adventure.
The Orem Police Department currently has 91 sworn officers when fully staffed along with an additional 30 non-sworn staff. It has its own 911 PSAP dispatch center who also dispatch for a smaller local agency. The Department has a 5-dog K9 unit, participates in a multi-agency SWAT team, administers for a County-wide drug task force, and also includes a traffic/motor unit, street narcotics team, and Neighborhood Preservation Unit. Most recently, the Department has assigned one sergeant full time as a “Mental Health Officer”. His job is to become familiarized with and give assistance to those community members with mental health issues. He follows up on all suicidal subject calls, works with the local mental health providers, and has a part-time social worker also assigned to the unit. Additionally, it is the goal of the Orem Police Department to have all officer certified as Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) officers within the first two years of their employment. Due to several new hires, we are currently at about 80% certified.
The Orem Police Department has implemented officer safety programs in regards to officer wellness and general officer safety utilizing the award criteria of Innovation, Implementation, Participation rate/success, Data, and Marketing/Promotion.
