Queen Creek police receive $111K speed enforcement grant

The town of Queen Creek has accepted a more than $111,000 federal grant to enhance a traffic enforcement program.

At its Wednesday meeting, the Queen Creek Town Council voted unanimously to accept the grant administered through the Arizona Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. The grant was on the council’s consent agenda in which all items are handled through one motion and vote.

The $111,660 grant will go toward overtime, employee-related expenses, and materials and supplies for the town’s Selective Traffic Enforcement Program.

“The grant will expand QCPD’s ability to conduct focused traffic enforcement and collect objective speed data to guide officer deployment. These efforts support the program’s goal of reducing traffic fatalities and injuries associated with speeding, aggressive driving, red-light running and other risky driving behaviors through enforcement, education and public awareness,” a staff report stated.

The Queen Creek Police Department reports that in 2025, officers responded to 1,622 non-injury collisions, 45 DUI-related collisions and four fatal collisions.

“The grant’s performance measures identify 578 speeding-related crashes, three serious injuries in speeding-related crashes and two speeding-related fatalities during that year,” the report continued.

Most of the grant will directly support additional enforcement activity, with $84,000 allocated to officer overtime and associated employee-related expenses. This will allow QCPD to conduct additional patrols, participate in traffic enforcement task force operations, and take part in “High Visibility Enforcement” deployments.

“This funding will increase the department’s capacity to address documented traffic concerns, conduct coordinated enforcement during holidays and other high-risk periods, and maintain a visible presence at locations experiencing recurring speeding and dangerous driving behaviors,” the report stated.

The department uses Stalker Street Dynamics Traffic Data Intelligence to evaluate roadway conditions and focus enforcement resources through roadside radar data collectors that capture traffic volume, traffic flow, average speeds, speed variations and patterns by time of day and day of the week.

“The devices collect aggregate traffic information without identifying individual drivers or vehicles. This information helps the department identify recurring speeding patterns and determine where and when additional patrols and focused enforcement can provide the greatest benefit,” the report stated.

The remaining $27,660 of the grant will fund additional data collector radars. The grant cycle runs from Oct. 1-Sept. 30, 2027.

As part of the grant, QCPD has set the following goals:

• Decrease speeding-related crashes by 5%, from 578 to 549.
• Decrease serious injuries in speeding-related crashes by 33%, from three to two.
• Decrease fatalities in speeding-related crashes by 50%, from two to one.

The department will also conduct targeted speed enforcement operations at least four times per month during the grant’s lifecycle.
QCPD will also be presenting quarterly reports to the Arizona Governor’s Office of Highway Safety tracking its goals.

Janet Perez can be reached at jperez@iniusa.org. 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.