Council approves $1.26M to update Wichita police’s evidence storage facility

Updates are moving forward at the Wichita Police Department’s Property and Evidence Unit after a 2021 audit found that evidence was being improperly stored and damaged in the facility.

The Wichita City Council on Tuesday approved $1,265,086 in improvements to the facility that stores property and evidence that’s seized by the police department and could be later used in court cases.

The funding would update the building’s elevators, HVAC, storage rooms and security and communications equipment. The council also approved $750,000 to update the building’s fire suppression system last year, bringing the total for building updates to more than $2 million.

“I know many of us toured the facility, and these are definitely some necessary improvements,” council member Brandon Johnson said during Tuesday’s meeting.

An outside audit in 2021, which wasn’t released to the public until the following year, found that evidence was missing from at least 54 cases, which included homicides and rapes.

It also found that other evidence had been improperly stored, leading to some evidence to be damaged and not able to be used in court.

The city continued to do an internal audit on the facility after the 2021 report and updated many of its policies that were at issue in the outside audit.

The Wichita Police Department has been working toward accreditation through the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center, which also includes accrediting its evidence facility.

“The improvements will allow WPD to meet the current industry standards for their accreditation to handling evidence,” Wichita police Capt. Jason Cooley told the council.

The evidence facility, also known as the Rounds and Porter building, sits just west of Wichita’s City Hall.

This story was originally published June 10, 2025 at 12:19 PM.