West Valley law enforcement to crack down on speeding, traffic issues

PHOENIX — West Valley law enforcement officials announced an initiative Wednesday to curb speeding and traffic issues they say are plaguing areas.

The “Safe Speeds Saves Lives” project will have police departments focus on stretches of roads where heavy speeding occurs with the hopes of slowing down drivers and preventing crashes.

Benny Piña, Surprise’s police chief, said enforcement efforts won’t be announced in advance and that they will take a “zero tolerance approach.”

“We understand that there’s a lot of traffic, we understand that there’s congestion, but you have to take a more mature approach and take a few more moments to plan your trip accordingly so that when these peak times occur, there’s not the incidents that we’ve also seen because of speed and traffic,” Piña said during a press conference.

The project, which Piña likened to how police run DUI enforcement during holidays, is expected to continue several times a month through July.

Seven West Valley police departments are partnering on enforcement: Surprise, Glendale, Peoria, Goodyear, El Mirage, Buckeye and Avondale.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office are also participating.

“Our collective message to you is please slow down and understand we are going to be out there,” Piña said.

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