New Unified Police ‘Stealth Stat Box’ Helps Department Find Speeders

MIDVALE, Utah – You could pass right by it and not even know.

However, before explaining what the gray box strapped to a pole along Carlson Avenue in Midvale is, it’s important to talk to those who live where it’s set up.

And what they notice every single day.

“It’s just the speed factor,” said Jolene Day. “It’s the speed. People zoom by here all the time.”

Jolene and her husband Zac love living in this neighborhood.

They just wish those who drive through here did, too.

“I’ve seen people lose their radiator because they’re cruising through this too fast and they hit those two dips right there,” said Zac Day.

The speed limit through Carlson Avenue is 25 miles an hour.

However, even the guy who lives on this corner, the one with the rocks, knows better.

“Those are there specifically to catch the bumpers of people that are flying through and they get onto the lawn,” said Jolene Day with a laugh.

Plus, with so many kids who play in this neighborhood, parents figured it was time to talk to the city.

Which brings us back to that little gray box.

It was put in by the Unified Police Department.

“It’s counting cars and it’s recording speed and the time of day,” said Sgt. Melody Cutler.

Police figure, by recording those statistics, it’ll help them to know when to assign an officer to patrol for speeders.

“It’s a great tool for us so we don’t have an officer sitting all day long somewhere where maybe there’s not a problem, or it’s only a problem between 5 and 7 p.m.,” said Cutler.

The box doesn’t have any cameras, so it isn’t taking pictures or video or anything like that.

Police say it’s just recording information.

It’s also the first box of its kind being used by the Unified Police Department.

“There are no license plates being collected,” said Cutler. “It’s just collecting statistics.”

For those who live in this neighborhood, they hope it’s a step to eventually getting drivers to slow down.

“Something needs to be done,” said Jolene Day. “We don’t want anybody to get hurt because someone is speeding through here.”