OREM — During one of her first city meetings after taking office in 1992, Orem City Councilwoman Judy Bell was surprised to see suspects and witnesses waiting in a public hallway for a chance to speak with police officers.

One night, Bell walked down the hall in front of the police department office, located at that time inside City Hall, to find an old friend and her son awaiting a police interview. The family was obviously distraught, and Bell became indignant after seeing they had no place for privacy.

"From that day forth, one of my goals was to get a public safety building where the people of Orem could have some dignity," Bell said Wednesday at the dedication of the city's new police and fire complex. "It is thrilling for me to see that we finally have a building worthy of our needs."

Orem spent about 16 months and $5.4 million constructing the 33,000-square-foot building. A short ceremony and public open house Wednesday celebrated the facility that officials say will ensure people have a better experience with police than did Bell's friend eight years ago.

Employees, dignitaries and police from around Utah gathered Wednesday to view the new building and celebrate its completion. Police and firefighters actually moved in about six weeks ago.

"There's been a lot of anticipation and excitement on behalf of the department," said Mike Larsen, public safety director. "This is a tool for law enforcement."

The two-story building is larger than what Orem needs now, but city officials planned it that way so police and firefighting operations would have room to grow as the city does, said Mayor Jerry Washburn.

"We tease the chief just a little bit because of the size of this building," he confided.

Some rooms currently used for storage are wired for telephones and computers should the need arise to use them as offices, said Orem Police Capt. Mike Fenton, who served as project manager during construction. In addition, he said, the city added an emergency generator and multifuel boiler, allowing the use of either natural gas or diesel fuel.

Despite the size and newness, the building is not grandiose, officials said.

"We were fairly economical, but we made our dollars stretch a long way," Fenton said.

With a full-time sworn officer staff of 76 and nearly 90,000 residents, Orem has one of the lowest ratios of officers per 1,000 residents in the state. Including dispatchers, secretaries, record keepers and firefighters, the new building houses 175 employees.

Firefighting equipment remains housed at the city's three satellite fire stations, although fire administrators are in the new building, located on Center Street just east of State Street.

Police project that it will take 20 years to grow into the building, but they expect the building to handle police operations for much longer than that.

On the first floor, the building features a six-cell prisoner holding area. Prisoners are brought in through a secure parking garage. The two cells intended for juveniles are separated away from the other four.

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Orem is the only Utah County city with its own jail. Orem officers generally hold prisoners for less than a day before transporting them to the Utah County Jail in Spanish Fork, said Capt. Terry Taylor. But the jail is needed so Orem officers can save trips to the county facility, Taylor said.

Also on the first floor is a workout room and a set of locker rooms. Officers use the locker rooms to get ready for work as well as to work out. Police and firefighters who live outside Orem find it convenient to change into their uniforms once they're at the new building, Taylor said.

In addition, the building has several conference rooms and "soft" interview rooms furnished with couches and recliners. Those conditions make interviews with witnesses and suspects much easier than before, police said. In their previous office, police said they lacked room for evidence storage and sufficient interview rooms.


E-MAIL: carter@desnews.com

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