Orem officers speak out in wake of police brutality concerns
Orem police K9 officer John Schroemges poses for a portrait in Orem on Friday, June 12, 2020. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
Orem Police Chief Gary Giles poses for a portrait in Orem on Friday, June 12, 2020. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
Orem police officer Brady Andreason poses for a portrait in Orem on Friday, June 12, 2020. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
Orem police Sgt. Glenn Giles poses for a portrait in Orem on Friday, June 12, 2020. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
Orem police officer Brady Andreason poses for a portrait in Orem on Friday, June 12, 2020. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
Orem Police Chief Gary Giles poses for a portrait in Orem on Friday, June 12, 2020 prior to his retirement. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
Orem police K9 officer John Schroemges poses for a portrait in Orem on Friday, June 12, 2020. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
Orem police Sgt. Glenn Giles poses for a portrait in Orem on Friday, June 12, 2020. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
Orem police officer Brady Andreason poses for a portrait in Orem on Friday, June 12, 2020. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
In response to the growing emails he has received regarding concerns and protests over the death of George Floyd at the knee of a Minneapolis police officer, Orem Police Chief Gary Giles has released a letter to city residents.
“Most of the questions I have fielded are in regards to whether something like that could happen here in Orem and what we, as the Orem Police Department, are doing in order to deter these kinds of situations.”
Gary Giles and officers Brady Andreason, John Schroemges and Glenn Giles talked with the Daily Herald about being an Orem police officer and the difference between their department and large metropolitan police agencies and how they do business.
In wake of George Floyd
Gary Giles said, “As chief, I denounce what happened in Minneapolis, what they (the officers) did was wrong. Excess force was wrong. I hope they (the public) understand we do reviews on uses of force.”
When asked if their police protocol was anything like what officers did in Minneapolis to George Floyd, Glenn Giles emphatically said, “No.”
The officers said they are detaining a person who is resisting arrest, it may not be out of the ordinary to wrestle them to the ground. Once the detainee is handcuffed, the officer would get up, call for medical help, and take them to a hospital to be checked before being arrested.
“Once the fight is over, it’s over. Now it’s time to care for them,” Glenn Giles said.
He added, “I understand we still need to have discussions. Minorities feel uncomfortable. And there is always bias.”
If an officer has profiled or abused his authority, the chief said they discipline, they retrain, or they fire officers not using correct protocol, depending on the situation.
When asked if any of the officers have seen a change in the community in the past few weeks toward them, they said yes.
“More people are coming up to me and thanking me for what I do,” Andreason said. His fellow officers concurred.
DefundingGary Giles said he is not seeing the same push locally to defund police as other police are seeing in places like Minneapolis, Los Angeles, New York or Atlanta.
“I don’t have crowds saying ‘defund,'” Gary Giles said. “Just a few months ago we were hearing (from residents): Raise taxes so we can have more officers.”
He also said the large metropolitan departments are unionized and have much more to handle than a small department like Orem.
The Orem Police Department is already doing many of the things those protesting in large cities are asking to be done as part of de-funding, the chief said.
“We treat the community with respect,” Gary Giles said, referring to George Floyd. “Common sense says get off, he’s a human being. Once in custody and he’s down you get him up and make sure he is medically okay.”
De-escalating”I feel strongly that our constant training in use of force, options for less-than-lethal force, and training in de-escalation help our officers better respond to and de-escalate situations quickly and safely,” Gary Giles said.
He added, “Do we ever have people who fight or are violent? Yes, we do, and there are times where less lethal options are not an alternative for officers. But I do feel strongly in saying that I am proud of the way the officers in the Orem Police Department treat the public.”
“As chief, I denounce what happened in Minneapolis; what they (the officers) did was wrong. Excess force was wrong. I hope they (the public) understand we do reviews on uses of force.”
– Orem Police Chief Gary Giles
The Orem Police Department trains its officers on a regular basis, according to the chief. Teams train in use of force, firearms, de-escalation and many other topics regularly.
“The Orem Police Department is highly active with Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) which includes training on dealing with the mentally ill and people experiencing emotional crisis,” Gary Giles said.
The Orem Police Department has two mental health officers, who work closely with Wasatch Mental Health and the Food and Care Coalition.
Profiling and biasThe Orem Police Department has a policy in place which prohibits inappropriate reliance on characteristics such as race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, economic status, age, cultural group, disability or affiliation with any non-criminal group.
Violation of the policy could include termination from employment. Gary Giles also said officers receive training on implicit bias.
“Currently we are sending officers through a regularly scheduled program in conjunction with Utah Valley University along with the Black Student Union,” he said.
He added, “It sometimes is frustrating to me when our officers are grouped in with one or two bad officers in other parts of the country who may not be taking the same steps we are here in the city of Orem. I can assure you that there is no one who dislikes a bad cop more than good cops.”
Giles said his officers are not Los Angeles, not Minneapolis, not New York police departments. They are Orem Police Department and proud of it.
“The Orem Police Department takes great pride in its community outreach, particularly in regards to racial and ethnic minority groups,” Gary Giles said. “Our community consists of larger populations of Latino and Polynesian residents, but there are many more minority groups that we work with.”
The department works particularly close with the Black Student Union at Utah Valley University.
“We currently have many minority officers including Hispanic, Polynesian, Indian (India) and African American,” Gary Giles said. “We try to be very transparent and have become good at using social media as a community building tool. Currently we have over 58,000 followers on our Facebook page.”
Orem has 94 officers with two current openings: one for a captain’s spot and one for Gary Giles’, who has announced his retirement.
Meet the officersOrem is considered one of the safest cities in the state, according to the chief.
When asked what aspects of his job are harder than others, Schroemges said, “I don’t like anything involving (abused or hurt) children. You watch people pass away and that’s hard, especially children.”
Schroemges has been with the Orem force for three years; prior to that he was in the army and deployed to Iraq in 2011. He still serves in the Army National Guard.
“Being in the military has benefitted me,” Schroemges said. “I wanted to be on the SWAT team.”
According to Gary Giles, there are several officers in the department that have served in the military.
Schroemges is currently with the K-9 unit and his partner is Officer Vilo, a mix between a Belgian Malinois and a German Shepherd.
Schroemges said the military has prepared him for policing. He understands the line of authority, he is disciplined, he has had training, including in martial arts. But he added that despite his extensive training, his job can get scary.
“If anybody has said they haven’t been afraid as a police officer, they’re lying,” Schromges said.
Andreason grew up in Orem and lived next to two police officers. He has wanted to be an officer since he was a little boy. He has been with Orem five years and has served as a police officer just over seven years. He is currently serving as a neighborhood preservation officer.
“It’s not all about clamping down on the bad guys,” Andreason said. “There’s lots more to do of the smaller things, like reports.”
Andreason said that depending on the type of crime, a police report takes between 30 minutes to two hours to complete for each incident. It’s all part of the job, he said.
