Lehi City News
Traffic incidents the biggest problem facing Lehi Police
Lehi City beefs up patrol division
Traffic in Lehi City is the biggest problem Lehi Police are currently dealing with, and they are ramping up their patrol division to keep up with demand. “We have increased the number of officers dedicated to our patrol division to help deal with accidents, issues, and calls,” according to Lehi Chief of Police, Darren Paul. “Distracted drivers, impatient drivers, and construction are the biggest factors for the number of increased incidents in Lehi,” said Police Lieutenant, Toby Peterson.
The largest number of accidents occur during commuting hours, between 6 am and 6 p.m., and Paul said Lehi Police has increased the number of officers on duty during those hours. Their hope is to add more officers to their force in the next fiscal year.
“Obviously, as the population of Lehi rises, so does the number of incidents,” Paul said. “But the last time I checked we are still below the national and state average for incidents.” According to a report, in 2013 the population of Lehi was 54,153 and there were 1184 traffic accidents. In 2017, population was 62,712 and the accident numbers increased to 1,778. There were 1,992 accidents in 2018, but an exact population number isn’t yet available.
“There is a lot of collaboration between the community and the police force to keep our community safe, especially during Lehi’s population growth,” said Paul.
Other top issues the Lehi Police are dealing with include DUI’s, drugs, and domestic violence. Lehi Deputy Chief, Jeff Magnusson, said the new DUI laws don’t really impact the way police pull someone over when they are suspected of driving impaired. “We pull over someone who seems impaired, then they are given the blood alcohol test at the station,” he explained. Their test results may be used against them in the courts, but we don’t need the test to decide if someone is driving impaired,” he continued. Paul said additional reports and data will be available soon to see what other major issues are facing Lehi City.
