Here’s how Wichita police plan to use technology to fight crime in real time
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- Wichita police launched a real-time center to support active crime response.
- Technology tools include drones, gunshot sensors, and 277 city-owned cameras.
- Officials plan to expand staffing and operate the real-time center 24/7.
Officer Jason Wilgus used an X-box controller to steer a drone to a burglary in progress around Mount Vernon in south Wichita on Friday afternoon, using a radio to tell two officers on the street what he saw.
He directed officers to a man in a white T-shirt, who put his hands up in the air before the feed cut off and the drone headed back to its base on the roof of Wichita Fire Station No. 2, 1240 South Broadway.
Wilgus, who has been with the department five years, operated from the Wichita Police Department’s real-time information center on the fifth floor at City Hall after a ribbon cutting for the new space that police say will help support officers responding to calls.
The department’s top brass, media, city officials and elected officials, including U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, socialized as Wilgus sat at one of the six stations that staff will use to help police.
“I appreciate the application of technology with law enforcement,” Moran said during a press conference.
Police said the center will be a centralized spot for staff who use technology to help officers, including three drones police are piloting that are able to autonomously fly to scenes, license plate readers, gunshot detection sensors, 277 city-owned cameras and the ability to tap into police body cameras and vehicle cameras.
Police also plan to use private cameras with permission from their owners.
“This real-time information center is about supporting our officers,” Mayor Lily Wu said. “Those who are in the field and who help us day in and day out and it is not about replacing them. The men and women of the Wichita Police Department are irreplaceable.”
The center now has two full-time staff members. The plan is to add more stations and enough staff over time to have the center operate 24/7. One of the staff at a station on Friday was a Wichita State University intern. Police said they plan to use more interns in the future to staff the RTIC.
Chief Joseph Sullivan said the centralized location of technology will lead to faster and safer response times.
“Individually these systems are powerful, but together ... they give officers a clear and comprehensive picture,” Sullivan said. “That clarity can help us resolve some incidents quickly, deploy resources effectively and free up officers to answer other calls.”
The Wichita police officers began looking into a real-time center in 2022. They visited with departments that have the technology in Las Vegas, Fort Worth, Oklahoma City and Tulsa, police said.
Police also talked about the future of the center and police technologies, and gained feedback, during community town halls in 2024.
This story was originally published September 26, 2025 at 6:08 PM.