Wichita police want to add 50 officers to patrol downtown. Here’s why

The Wichita Police Department is looking to add 50 officers to patrol downtown, Delano and the Broadway corridor — establishing a squad to increase enforcement in the city’s core.

The Downtown Area Response Team, or DART, would target violent crime, squatting and homeless encampments, and nuisance abatements to “safeguard current investments from private industry and the City of Wichita,” according to the city council’s agenda report.

It would cost nearly $25 million over four years, the agenda report says.

The City Council is expected to vote Tuesday on whether to authorize the police department to apply for a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice that would help cover the cost of the new officers for three years. The city would cover the entire cost during the fourth year and beyond. The cost of each entry-level officer would be about $119,000 in the first year and $130,000 in the fourth year.

In total, the federal government would contribute approximately $14.2 million through the Community Oriented Policing Services — or COPS — grant program while the city would cover the other $11.2 million with city tax dollars. The new officers would cost the city more than $6.5 million a year starting in the fourth year of the grant period.

“Downtown Wichita is currently undergoing substantial economic development and expansion, marked by increased activity at Intrust Bank Arena, ongoing projects on the west riverbank in Delano and the ballpark district, construction of the biomedical campus, common consumption in Delano, engagement in Old Town, and significant investment in the Broadway Corridor,” the report says. “This growth has resulted in higher demand for police services.”

The grant prioritizes local police department initiatives focused on nuisance abatement and quality of life, violent crime, and squatting and homeless encampment enforcement.

“The department routinely addresses reports of unlawful camping and violent crime within the downtown district,” the report says. “Enhanced staffing and greater visibility are expected to significantly improve the ability to manage these challenges effectively.”

The city’s agenda report says the DART unit is also needed because of “an uptick in the use of the downtown area for large-scale special events over the past two years, increasing the need for overtime staffing.”

DART would support major special events and patrol Old Town, the city’s downtown late-night bar and nightclub district, at closing time.

“Overtime expenses associated with River Festival, Old Town, and NCAA tournaments collectively total nearly $700,000,” the report says. “This figure does not account for additional special events held within the downtown area.”