After five years as Draper’s top cop, Chief Bryan Roberts is out of a job.
City Council members voted during a Tuesday meeting to terminate Roberts, saying in a resolution that it was “in the best interest of the city.” The council fired Roberts without cause, according to the resolution.
On Wednesday, city officials were tight-lipped about the reasons for Roberts’ firing.
But Councilman Jeff Stenquist said in an interview that Roberts didn’t do anything illegal, and there was no accusation of misconduct or sexual harassment. It also had little to do with Roberts seeking another police chief job in Provo months earlier, Stenquist said.
“You know, I really don’t want to go into details,” Stenquist said. “We just felt like we needed to have a change in leadership.”
City spokeswoman Maridene Alexander echoed Wednesday that there was no particular reason or event that sparked the dismissal.
“They just decided it was time for a change,” she said of the city council members.
Roberts took the job as Draper’s chief in August 2012, after a 30-year law enforcement career in southern California. Before becoming a chief in Utah, he was police chief in Menlo Park.
In March, Roberts was named Police Chief of the Year of a midsize agency by the Utah Police Chief’s Association. He was recognized for his “innovative and progressive law enforcement practices,” according to a press release, which included providing training for officers about fair policing and de-escalation techniques.
By Wednesday morning, Roberts’ bio had already been removed from Draper’s website.
Deputy Chief John Eining will act as interim chief, Alexander said, adding she didn’t know what the plans were for hiring a new chief.
Months before he was ousted as Draper’s chief, Roberts had been eyeing another chief job — in neighboring Provo.
According to emails obtained in September by The Salt Lake Tribune through an open records request, Roberts wrote to Draper staffers in August that he had been in recruitment for the Provo job for four months, but decided to withdraw his name from consideration.
“I have come to the conclusion that it is not the right fit for me both personally and professionally,” Roberts wrote. “I’m happy to continue to lead Draper PD as your chief. We have accomplished a lot together and we will continue to be a leader in Utah law enforcement.”
Roberts noted in the email that he and his wife “look forward to finishing my career in Draper.”
The chief wrote two emails that day about the Provo job, one to his entire police staff and another to police department heads. In his email to the staff, he wrote that his priorities going forward were to secure a command staff, increase staffing and implement a new mobile command post.
Draper Police Chief Bryan Roberts emails staff about Provo Chief job by The Salt Lake Tribune on Scribd
At that time, Provo officials were searching for a new chief after their previous police leader, John King, resigned abruptly amid sexual-assault allegations and family health issues.
Provo officials told The Tribune in late July that they had narrowed their search to a single candidate, someone from outside the Provo department who was undergoing a second, deeper round of background checks at that time.
But by September, officials instead hired interim chief Rich Ferguson to lead the Provo police force. When asked about the other candidate, then-Deputy Mayor Corey Norman said they “mutually parted ways.”
“There was some issues and stuff we were trying to work on,” Norman said. “It just wasn’t gelling.”
Back in Draper, Stenquist said this situation led to some awkwardness as Roberts continued to lead the police force, but he emphasized that wasn’t the reason why city officials decided to fire Roberts.
“That wasn’t the direct reason,” Stenquist said. “That’s not reason, but it was an awkward situation. But that’s not why we’re letting him go.”
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