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Just one day before the Provo mayor announced a review of that city's police department, a former Provo officer was charged with a crime.
Prosecutors on Wednesday charged Troy Brewer in Provo Justice Court with one count of theft and one count of possessing a controlled substance for allegedly stealing painkillers from a home on Feb. 15. Both counts are misdemeanors punishable by up to six months in jail.
Utah County sheriff's Lt. Mike Brower, whose office investigated the case, said Brewer responded to a complaint call at a home in the Provo River Bottoms. But Brewer kept returning to the home in the following days under the pretense of following up, Brower said.
The homeowner became suspicious and installed a video camera, Brower said. KSL Television, the first to report the charges against Brewer on Thursday, played video which the station said showed Brewer. He is seen tiptoeing or walking lightly around a corner, then stopping. His hands move off camera.
Brower said Brewer stole pain medication from a cabinet in the home. Brewer has since resigned from the Provo Police Department. Brewer is the third officer or former officer in the department to face charges recently.
In October, Provo police Officer Mark Petersen was charged one count each of third-degree felony aggravated assault and class A misdemeanor obstruction of justice for allegedly threatening his girlfriend with a handgun. He is scheduled to appear for a Dec. 6 preliminary hearing and is on paid leave from the department.
Another Provo police officer was fired from the department after a 29-year-old woman claimed he threatened to take her to jail unless she exposed her breasts the night of July 22. The woman claims that when she lifted her shirt, Jeffery Westerman fondled her. Westerman, who has waived his right to a preliminary hearing, is charged with one count each of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse and third-degree felony obstructing justice.
Provo Mayor John Curtis announced a review of the police department on Thursday. The review will include an audit by a California government consulting firm as well as a citizens committee to oversee it, a way for residents to submit positive and negative feedback about the department and a request for officers and other employees to meet with the department's chaplain.
On his blog, Curtis wrote that he has "lost a fair amount of sleep over recent incidents dealing with Provo's police."
Brower said he does not detect widespread problems in the Provo Police Department.
"Most of the guys I've worked with at Provo City are stand-up, and I have a good working relationship with them," he said.