|
Gregory M. Cooper
About the Provo Police
Department The Provo Police Department is a full-service law enforcement agency with 100 sworn personnel
and over 50 civilian employees. The Provo Police Department is organized into Administration and Four Divisions:
Public Safety Information; Support Services Division; Patrol Division; and, Criminal Investigation Division.
According to the Provo Police
Department, “Public Safety Information manages administrative activities such as budget oversight, purchasing, volunteer
coordination, crime prevention, and public and media relations. The Records Section of the Police Department
is also managed by the Public Safety Information Division as is the Victims Assistance Program. Victims Assistance provides
valuable individual help to the victims of crime and their families. Within the Victim Assistance program
employees are trained in crisis intervention and services are available to deal specifically with the issues of children that
are victims of crime, as well as adults.
The Support Services includes many essential aspects
of Police work. The Dispatch Center, which receives all 911 and Police emergency calls, falls under this
Division. The Property Bureau, which is responsible for the documentation and analysis of crime scene evidence,
is also part of Support Services. With digital technology, one fingerprint can now be compared to a database
containing over 4 million fingerprints. These comparisons provide the potential of matching suspects to fingerprints found
at a crime scene and identifying unknown persons who are wanted
The Patrol Division is overseen by a Captain who is
assisted by Lieutenants and Sergeants. We are a 24 hour operation with three shifts; Days, Swings, and
Graves. Each shift is assigned a Lieutenant and two Sergeants. There are 50 uniformed
officers, ten supervisors, two Office Specialists and one Crime Analyst. The Patrol Division is also supplemented
with Reserve Officers.
The patrol consists of numerous specialty
teams including Community Oriented Policing, Bike Patrol team, Traffic Enforcement, Parking Enforcement and Animal Control.
The Traffic Investigation team is housed under the Patrol Division.
The Criminal Investigation Division
is charged with the responsibility of investigating all criminal activity in the City of Provo. They remain
dedicated in serving the needs of our city and actively solicit the support of the community in our quest to keep this a great
place to live. All investigations require that sufficient evidence be gathered to identify the perpetrator through witness
interviews, interrogations and physical evidence. The primary goal and function of this division is to ensure that all investigations
are complete and properly prepared for prosecution.”
|
