In Tuesday’s group is the budget request from the Provo Police Department, the first for new chief Troy Beebe. Their presentation has been divided in a variety of sub-headings ranging from Public Engagement to Organizational Accountability.

Beebe is hoping to start a number of programs to build positive interaction with youth and help connect underserved communities to available services.

The department seeks to enhance the traffic enforcement team to increase citations and reduce accidents. Currently those numbers are reversed, according to the budget summary.

Public engagement will receive a greater focus, particularly on social media to enhance the agency’s brand image, according to Beebe. The department recently changed its public information officer to a civilian job, opening up one more officer for policing.

Isaac Hale, Daily Herald file photo

“We will improve communication, collaboration and information exchange as valuable means of assisting the department in meeting community outreach, investigative and crime prevention,” Beebe said.

As part of its organizational accountability, Beebe would like to enhance the Flock Camera System and Axon Taser Program.

Beebe’s budget is designed build trust with the community by ensuring that actions are legitimate, justifiable and done with transparency.

“This goal enables us to locate suspects, increase safety, decrease injuries and reduce potential liabilities,” Beebe said.

Beebe is requesting funds for enriched training for officers, including health and wellness management of workloads, stress management, leadership training and employee wellness. He said it will also provide for a peer support program and first responder counseling.

Daily Herald file photo

“While the department strives to meet the changes happening in the city, society and the department, the core mission remains the same; policing with a purpose, compassion and partnership,” Beebe said.

In sharing statistics with the council, Beebe will show that dispatch calls, over a 10-year period, averaged 75,615.8 per year or 207.16 per day. Police-only 911 calls were made 9,867.9 times per year, or 27.03 per day.

The overtime budget in the current fiscal year has been depleted and will need $27,000 more to finish up the budget year, which ends June 30.

Beebe is also preparing to ask the council for more officers, noting the different ways to calculate need — per capita, of which Provo is 20 officers below the Utah average; budgetary; arbitrary minimums; and crime trends, that more crime means a need for more officers.

Beebe says he expects daytime swells in the need for officers as Brigham Young University athletics joins the Big 12 Conference and the university plans to increase enrollment, which is currently 34,737 students. BYU has 10 officers who respond only to calls on campus.

A busier schedule at the Utah Valley Convention Center, the new regional sports park and growth at the Provo Airport also increase the need for more officers, according to the report.

Other than the cost for officers, which will be an administrative decision, Beebe is asking for about $3.6 million for the next fiscal year. The complete presentation and financial breakdown will be livestreamed on the Provo Municipal Council YouTube page starting at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, during the council’s work session. People can attend in-person at the council chambers.

The Fire Department and Parks and Recreation will also present their budget requests on Tuesday. Most departments have been given 45 minutes each to make their presentation. The final budget will be voted on by the council during  the second meeting in June.