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Police report: priority calls stable, e-motorcycles and trails safety top concerns as school year approaches
Summary
Hyde Park Police presented year-to-date priority call data and described increasing problems with unregulated electric motorcycles. Chiefs and mayors in the valley are pursuing a uniform approach; local safety committee and staff will study traffic calming and signage changes.
The Hyde Park Police chief presented a snapshot of priority calls and other trends and told council members the department is tracking an uptick in domestic disputes and serious crashes year-to-date.
"For this week's call, Hyde Park had 39 calls for service. Six of those fell into these priority categories," the chief said, summarizing weekly and year-to-date comparisons between 2024 and 2025. The chief said Hyde Park had 300 priority calls in 2024 in the categories shown and that domestic disputes (19 so far in 2025 versus 22 for all of 2024) demand significant officer time.
The chief and council discussed back-to-school preparations: the department has trained crossing guards at Cedar Ridge, scheduled extra officer shifts the first week of school, and is coordinating with the school district on safe routes.
A major focus of the discussion was so-called e‑motorcycles (higher-wattage, motorcycle‑style electric dirt bikes), which local officers say are creating safety hazards on streets, sidewalks and trails. The chief reported two recent crashes in the valley involving scooters or e-dirt bikes — one on a walking path where a youth was riding at an estimated 35–40 mph and struck a car, and another collision involving a scooter and a truck. The chief described legislative and interagency ideas under discussion, such as age limits, parental citations, mandatory safety courses triggered by citations and a uniform ordinance across neighboring cities.
Chiefs from across the valley have discussed model code changes; the chief said the goal is coordination among sheriffs and neighboring city police departments and to involve prosecutors so citations will be enforced. The chief also urged an education component — outreach to parents and schools — and named the Bear River Health Department as a potential partner for safety training.
Council and staff also discussed local traffic-calming work. The police have used a speed trailer to collect data on corridors; Marcus said one speed study showed a top speed of 53 mph in a measured period and 958 vehicles counted. Members of the Safety Committee shared an inventory of damaged or missing signage and recommended prioritizing replacements; the council stressed that changes that alter traffic patterns — new stop signs or speed-limit changes — should be based on engineering studies and come back to the council for approval. The committee will coordinate with Public Works, the police chief and the school district on further study and prioritization.
Ending: The council asked staff and the Safety Committee to continue data collection and engineering analysis on traffic and speed issues, to coordinate regional meetings of chiefs and prosecutors on e-motorcycle enforcement and to develop an education plan for parents and schools before pursuing ordinance changes or enforcement programs.
