Key Points:
- The Wichita Police Dept. held a public session to address concerns about new surveillance technologies.
- Real Time Information Center will centralize information collection and improve response time.
- Gunshot detection sensors and license plate readers are among the new technologies being implemented.
The Wichita Police Dept. held the first of a series of citywide listening sessions in District 1 on June 8, ahead of the rollout of the Real Time Information Center.
The center will feed data from the department’s available high-tech tools to the center, where workers, in real-time, can access, analyze, share and use the information to improve police responses and effectiveness.
The purpose of the sessions is to update the community on implementation of new, sophisticated policing technologies and respond to questions and concerns about the potential for use of those technologies to violate rights to privacy.
WPD Capt. Aaron Moses told residents attending the session that the RTIC will be built in city hall and will use some familiar technology such as closed circuit television, 911 calls, and body camera footage, and will add newer equipment, including additional Flock license plate readers, additional surveillance cameras like the ones now used in Old Town locations, Raven gunshot detection sensors, and short-range, line-of-sight drones.
The center will also be able to use security camera footage from nearby businesses and even from home doorbell cameras if they have the owner’s permission.
License Plate Readers
Wichita has been using license plate readers since November 2020, when the city started a 90-day pilot project with 35 readers in high-crime areas. At the end of the pilot, the readers had proved so effective that more were added.
The department now has 160 license plate readers in several different parts of town and they have been a valuable tool in recovering stolen cars, catching fleeing felons, and recovering stolen property. In some instances, stopping a stolen car also resulted in seizure of drugs, apprehension of felons wanted on warrants, and recovery of stolen firearms.
In one instance, a child abducted from an address in Wichita was safely rescued after a camera captured the plate of the vehicle headed south on the Kansas Turnpike. Wichita officers were able to alert the Highway Patrol in Kansas and Oklahoma, who stopped the suspect and rescued the child.
Moses told attendees at the town hall that concern had already been raised about cameras in “high crime” areas adding a layer of policing to neighborhoods that are already over-policed.
But, he said, the cameras have the potential of reducing the number of traffic stops made in a given neighborhood by giving police more information about who and what they are looking for.
WPD Chief Joe Sullivan said data from the surveillance cameras and license plate readers automatically purges at 30 days.
Gunshot Detection Is New
Gunshot detection is a new technology currently being beta tested in Wichita. It involves using sensors – mounted to traffic lights, power poles or other structures. Each sensor records five seconds of sound and sends that to the center. The system then “triangulates” reports from several area sensors to pinpoint the exact location of the gunfire.
The officers said the sensors offer enhanced accuracy in reporting gunshots, especially in areas where shots heard by residents are not always reported to police, and cuts down the time between when the shots are fired and when police can respond.
Because the sensors utilize AI technology, they are improving their ability to discern gunshots from other noises such as vehicle backfires or fireworks. The sensors do not pick up gunshots fired inside a structure, so they will not report shots fired in schools, hospitals, shopping malls, theaters, gun ranges or private homes.
The technology is being beta tested in Wichita and will not be fully rolled out until town halls have been held in every council district to make sure residents are fully informed. The beta testing is using 77 gunshot sensors, more than 160 license plate readers, and about 100 cameras in Old Town.
Use of Real Time Crime Centers is a growing trend in urban policing across the United States. The centers bring together a broad range of current and evolving technologies in a location with staff who can then use the technology in real time to make policing more efficient.
Privacy Safeguards In Place
License plate readers are mounted on traffic lights at intersections and snap photos as cars pass through. Sullivan said they have not and will not be used to issue traffic citations or target “red-light runners.”
Nor will arrests be made solely based on license plate reader info.
Sullivan stressed that facial recognition technology will not be used and drones will not be weaponized. He added that drones will not be used for immigration enforcement, nor will they be used at abortion clinics.
“Wichita police do not do immigration enforcement,” he said. “And we will not.”
He said the department drones are battery powered and have only about 40 minutes of flight time.They arrived about a month ago, Sullivan said, and have only been flown over Riverfest.
The FAA has strict rules that apply to drones, and drone pilots must be licensed. The department plans to have a pool of 24 officers licensed to fly drones. They will be trained in phases in partnership with Wichita State University.
“They will primarily be used to locate lost children or look for a dementia patient who has wandered away from home,” Sullivan said.
Funding to implement the Real Time Information Center was provided by two grants. One grant for $500,000 was from the Bureau of Justice Assistance. The second grant was a Community Oriented Policing Technology and Equipment Program invitational solicitation award of $1.65 million.
Additional public outreach meetings will be held in all six Wichita council districts.
