Earlier this summer a former officer (he was fired) was charged with forcible sexual abuse and obstructing justice in a case where he is said to have fondled a woman’s breasts while investigating a traffic accident. In another incident, two officers answering a bank alarm approached a college student sitting in a car and treated her as if she was a robbery suspect or a terrorist. The officers said it was a practical joke, but the student didn’t find it funny. The department disciplined the officers with oral reprimands.

According to Curtis, it was an incident in October, where an officer was accused of assault when he allegedly threatened his girlfriend with a gun, that was the final blow.

Keeping with his theme of transparency in the city, Curtis started his Thursday blog by saying, “I’ve lost a fair amount of sleep over recent incidents dealing with Provo’s police.” Curtis then announced that he and his administrative offices have contracted with an out-of-state company to do a review of the entire department.

“I am going to stand up and fight for my police officers,” Curtis said. “Something’s happening in our city, and we need to ask if there are some underlying problems. We need to take a reflective look.”

Provo spokeswoman Helen Anderson wrote in an e-mail to city staff: “The Provo city administration has full confidence in the police department, but understands that those closest to a situation sometimes miss things, and does not want to rely on its own opinion.”

Provo city’s crime rates are among the lowest in the nation, and earlier this year 98 percent of residents surveyed said they considered it a safe place to live.

“We’ve been apprised of this process and the intent, and we’re fully supportive. We see this as a good opportunity to review the department and find out where our strengths and weaknesses are,” said Provo Police Chief Craig Geslison.

The city will pay $22,000 to Citygate Associates LLC out of Folsom, Calif., to perform the overall department review that will examine and identify how professional standards are set and maintained. They will also interview other city staff, community leaders, educators and attorneys concerning the department, treatment, etc.

This review is just one element of a four-pronged program to work out issues and discover concerns within the police department.

The second prong of the review, according to Curtis, is a citizen’s committee that has been formed to oversee the review process. “We’re not asking them to do the review, just to observe the process,” Curtis said.

The citizens committee consists of six individuals: Neighborhood chairs Bob Allen and Bonnie Morrow; local ecclesiastical leader Arturo Soza; Community Action Services and Food Bank executive director Myla Dutton; Provo Municipal Councilman and former Provo police officer Rick Healey; and Utah State Representative, local attorney and former San Diego police officer Lorie Fowlke. All committee members are Provo residents except Fowlke, who lives in Orem and chairs the committee.

Residents have not been left out of the loop either. The third prong is a special hot line that has been set up in English and Spanish to contact the citizen’s committee to share their experiences with the police.

Both phone numbers and e-mail addresses have been set up; for English call (801) 852-6900 or e-mail report@provo.utah.gov; for Spanish call (801) 852-7111 or e-mail informes@provo.utah.gov. According to Anderson, “the information will go to the citizen’s committee and they will compile them and report either to the auditor or mayor or both.”

The fourth aspect of the review is the confidential interviews being conducted by Rev. Dean Jackson, the department’s chaplain.

“We have given a contract to our department’s chaplain to meet individually with all department employees,” Curtis said. “We want to know, ‘Do we have officers on the brink?’ “

Curtis was adamant that confidential interviews would not be compromised. However, they are asking for Jackson to report any trends of concern. Officers are asked to meet with Jackson on a volunteer basis and should not feel coerced, according to the mayor.

“Morale is not good in the Provo Police Department,” Curtis added. For instance, besides payroll freezes, there isn’t enough manpower to cover what is needed. Curtis said areas like the Provo River Trail where serious incidents have occurred recently are not being patrolled because there are not enough officers.

“There are 92 officers in the department, the same number that was in the department 20 years ago,” he said. Curtis also said he expects Citygate will tell them to hire more officers.

According to finance office records, in 1990 there were 102 officers serving 86,835 residents. Today there are 91 with one offer out, with authorization for 93. The current city populations is 118,581.

“We suspect they will say, ‘Are you kidding, 92 officers?’ ” Curtis said. “I am expecting a serious budget hit.”

The formal review will begin Dec. 6 and is expected to be completed within a two-week period. A report of the results is expected around the first of the year.