Queen Creek gets grants for DUI, speed enforcement
Town of Queen Creek
QCPD catches a driver going 93 miles-per-hour on Meridian Road. The department has been awarded two grants from the state to help in DUI and speeding enforcement measures.
The Queen Creek Police Department is receiving two grants from the state worth $124,000 to assist in its efforts to curb driving under the influence and speeding.
The Queen Creek Town Council voted 5-0 to accept the grants from the Arizona Governor’s Office of Highway Safety during its Oct. 1 meeting. Council Member Travis Padilla was absent from the meeting and Mayor Julia Wheatley is on leave until late fall.
The two grant approvals were on the council’s consent agenda in which all items are handled through one motion and vote.
The first grant is for $60,000 and will be used toward enhancing the department’s DUI/impaired driving enforcement activities.
Of the $60,000, $46,875 will go to pay for overtime deployment of officers for impaired driving enforcement, primarily during evenings, weekends, holidays and community events, according to a staff report.
The balance of $13,125 will go to covering mandatory benefit costs tied to overtime. No funds are being allocated for equipment, supplies or travel in this grant cycle. The grant runs through Sept. 30, 2026.
Between 2023 and 2024, QCPD reported a 69% rise in DUI-related incidents/offenses and nearly double the number of juvenile DUI arrests. Last year, the department’s vehicular crimes unit responded to 12 “significant” crash events, including two fatalities where impairment was noted in three of these cases, the report stated.
“While this is a decrease from 17 such collisions in 2023, the persistent role of impairment highlights the ongoing risk,” the report continued. “At the same time, Queen Creek is experiencing growth in nightlife that increases opportunities for impaired driving. Without increased enforcement, the community faces higher risks of DUI-related crashes.”
As part of the grant funding, QCPD will participate in a minimum of five DUI saturation patrols per quarter and a minimum of five regional DUI task force operations per quarter. The department will also offer education courses to the community and schools.
The department’s goals for the term of the grant are to reduce:
impaired-driving related crashes by 5%, from 36 in 2024 to 34 in 2026
impaired-driving related serious injuries by 5% from one in 2024 to one in 2026
impaired-driving related fatalities by 20% from five in 2024 to four in 2026.
The second grant, worth $64,000, will go toward the department’s traffic enforcement efforts.
“This funding will allow QCPD to expand directed patrols focused on high-speed corridors, staff special enforcement details during holidays and community events, and provide visible deterrence against reckless driving,” the report stated.
Of the $64,000, $50,000 will go to pay for overtime deployment of officers for speed-enforcement operations. The remaining $14,000 will cover mandatory benefit costs tied to the overtime. No funds are being allocated for equipment, supplies or travel in this grant cycle. The grant runs through Sept. 30, 2026.
As with DUI, rapid population growth and increased regional traffic from State Route 24 has led to an uptick in speed-related crashes.
In 2024, QCPD responded to 1,172 total traffic crashes, of which 459 were speed related. Collisions were mostly concentrated on major corridors such as Ironwood, Ellsworth, Meridian and Signal Butte roads, the report continued.
“While the department has expanded its traffic unit and invested in new technologies — including 15 permanent and six portable speed trackers linked to the Real Time Information Center — speeding and reckless driving remain among the most frequent and dangerous behaviors,” the staff report stated.
The department’s goals for the term of the grant are to decrease:
speeding-related crashes by 5% from 418 in 2024 to 397 by Dec. 31, 2026
speeding-related serious injuries by 15% from five in 2024 to four
speeding-related fatalities by 15% from four in 2024 to three
Through the grant funding, QCPD is to conduct targeted speed enforcement at least three times per month during fiscal year 2026. It will also assign two additional motor officers to the traffic unit.
Please send your comments about this article to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines. Janet Perez can be reached at jperez@iniusa.org.
Janet Perez News Editor | Queen Creek &
San Tan Valley
Meet Janet Janet Perez joined Independent Newsmedia as editor of the Queen Creek Independent and Florence Independent in 2020. She started her career in 1989 with the Gannett-owned El Paso Times. In 1992, she moved to Tempe and has worked in newspapers, magazines, radio and television. She left Arizona for three years to work at New Mexico State University and Baylor University before returning to work at Arizona State University. Missing the business, she went back to journalism in 2017.
Community: A long-time pet owner, she supports animal welfare causes.
Education: University of Texas at El Paso with a BA in journalism and a minor in political science.
Random Fact: She had a head full of random facts.
Hobbies: Reading, watching documentaries, cooking and playing with her dogs.
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