Wichita approves ‘eye in the sky’ over riverfront to prevent crime, police abuse
Soon, police will be watching over you when you stroll or bike down the pathways along the Arkansas River in downtown Wichita.
The Wichita City Council approved a project to bring full camera coverage over the riverfront, despite some privacy concerns and suspicions that the system might be used to shoo the homeless away from the business districts planned around the new downtown baseball stadium.
“Between the riverfront development going on on the east bank — or potential riverfront development — and the development on the west bank, these cameras were brought to our attention to make sure the area was safe,” said council member Brandon Johnson. “As we plan to see 200 events from baseball, other developments going on, this is an opportunity to keep everyone safe.”
Police Capt. Travis Rakestraw told the council that if cameras had been in place in February, police might have been able to solve the murder of Bernard Woodward, a 59-year-old homeless man whose body was found under the Douglas Avenue Bridge.
He assured the council that the cameras will only be used for substantial crimes and not minor violations by homeless people.
National Republican political operative Joseph “Tex” Dozier made the case that the cameras on the river would not only fight crime, but could also be used to expose any police misconduct that might take place.
“I’m here as an affirmer that black lives matter, as someone who has stood in solidarity alongside protesters at assemblies and gatherings, as a longtime political advocate for criminal justice reform and our constitutional rights,” said Dozier, a board member of the Wichita Police Foundation, which is funding the cameras.
“During this time as our country grapples with its original sin, and tries to push forward and live up to our founding principles and values, it’s more important than ever before for our community to commit to transparency, accountability and to policies and projects that further such,” Dozier said.
That was a convincing argument for Johnson, the only Black council member.
“If something were to happen and there were allegations (of police abuse), at least there’s an eye in the sky that can help prove the truth,” he said.
Zack Gingrich-Gaylord argued against cameras, saying the Police Foundation inflated crime numbers in the area to justify the project and that the process has been neither transparent nor accountable.
“The ‘Eyes on the River Project’ isn’t citizen driven,” said Gingrich-Gaylord, best known locally as a public-radio music commentator. “The nearly $140,000 has come from only 14 donors.
“The largest contributors are Fidelity Bank Foundation and WaterWalk, which have given $25,000 each to the project,” he added. “Many of the donors have significant material interests in downtown and the development of downtown. We feel this is undemocratic (and) uses the police as a private security force, influencing its priorities away from protecting the public good and towards their (donors) own particular interests.”
The donor list was scrubbed from the foundation’s website recently.
But a history search on archive.org showed that Fidelity and WaterWalk each gave $25,000 or more, while power company Evergy and Bonavia Properties, owner of the Garvey Center high-rise complex on Douglas, each donated between $12,500 and $25,000.
Gingrich-Gaylord said the project may have started with good intentions, but needs “to be brought into the light of the new contexts we’re dealing with socially right now” after the COVID-19 pandemic and the protests of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
“There’s also substantial research on the inherent racist bias of surveillance technologies,” he said. “A city that’s truly committed to anti-racism should be more deliberate and thoughtful around these issues.”
The debate over cameras and unanimous vote in favor of them came during consideration of a routine contract with the Drury Plaza Hotel Broadview to allow installation of a camera and wireless antenna on the hotel roof.
The item was pulled off the council’s consent calendar so it could be discussed and voted on separately.
The Drury will be one of six sites planned to provide coverage from the Harry Street Bridge north to the Keeper of the Plains monument.
The model for the project is Old Town, where 100-percent camera coverage was put in place three years ago after years of shootings and other unruly behavior in the bar and nightclub district.
The Old Town cameras got off to a rocky start when it was revealed that they were being used to issue tickets for minor traffic infractions, but police Chief Gordon Ramsay put a stop to that practice.
This story was originally published June 16, 2020 at 4:34 PM.
