Police: Homicides, robberies, rapes up in Wichita in 2014

Homicides jumped more than 50 percent in Wichita last year compared with 2013.

The number of rapes reported increased more than 8 percent. Robberies climbed 15 percent.

As he discussed those numbers Wednesday at a City Hall media briefing, interim Police Chief Nelson Mosley called 2014 “a challenging year full of opportunities.”

Thanks to decreases in aggravated assaults and larcenies, Wichita’s overall crime rate fell nearly 3 percent last year. But Mosley sought to assure any residents who may be troubled by the sizable increases in homicides, rapes and robberies.

“Just be assured that the men and women of the Wichita Police Department are working hard daily out there,” he said. “We recognize our crime trends, and we stay on top of those.”

There were 26 homicides in 2014, up sharply compared with the 17 of last year but consistent with the 28 of 2012, 27 of 2011 and 26 of 2009. Only two of the 2014 homicides remain unsolved, Deputy Chief Hassan Ramzah said.

Kelsey Shaw, 23, was killed on March 9 outside a private club at 1002 N. Cleveland. Nicole Saldana, 24, was killed while walking with her husband in the 3500 block of East Roseberry on May 13. Both were shot in the head.

Why the number of homicides climbed so sharply last year compared with 2013 is “a very difficult question to answer,” Ramzah said. “We wish we could determine what causes homicides.”

Only four of last year’s homicides were linked to domestic violence, he said. Six of the homicides involved gangs.

The 2014 totals for rapes and robberies were both five-year highs, not just increases over the previous year. There were 280 rapes reported in 2014 and 556 robberies.

Some other year-end numbers:

▪ There were 20 drive-by shootings involving gangs, according to statistics released by police. That’s the most since 2009. There were 781 gang members arrested, easily the fewest since 2009.

▪ Ramzah said 172 gang members were charged in Sedgwick County District Court last year. Another 13 were indicted in federal court. Officers seized 72 firearms.

▪ The number of fatal accidents in Wichita was among the fewest in five years – 22 – but 28 people were killed in collisions. That’s among the highest in the past six years.

Body cameras

During Wednesday’s media briefing, Mosley said plans to outfit about 500 police officers with body cameras by the end of the year are proceeding on schedule. Funding sources, policies and procedures are still being worked out, he said.

“There are a lot of moving parts,” Mosley said. “This is daunting. We have not done anything like this before.”

A trip to Fort Worth, where about 500 officers have used body cameras for more than a year now, “opened our eyes,” Mosley said.

One of those eye-openers, he said, was recognizing that more people will be needed to handle video requests and maintenance on the storage system than officials previously thought. But that won’t derail efforts to get the cameras to the officers.

“We want those cameras,” Mosley said. “We’re working hard to get it.”

This story was originally published February 25, 2015 at 12:31 PM with the headline "Police: Homicides, robberies, rapes up in Wichita in 2014."