Leaders of the Wichita Police Department hosted a town hall on Wednesday to discuss the “real-time” information center that they want to have up and running by next spring. Wichita Police Chief Joe Sullivan said advancements in technology, which are used every day, will keep people and officers safer. “It’s going to be a game changer for crime fighting here in Wichita,” said Sullivan. Chief Sullivan said they will soon have the technology, already used by departments across the country, to allow 911 calls to be heard from officers in that specific area in real-time. He also said they will have Flock gunshot detection in high-gun violence areas, which can pinpoint nearly the exact location of the weapon being fired. Chief Sullivan said it’s an effort to reduce crime. “We’re utilizing technology, we’re taking the subjective human element out, and making sure that the judgments that we make, the strategies that we devise are data-driven and that they’re fair, and they’re objective, and they’re based on making communities safer,” said Chief Sullivan. Karen Leve of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas said that after WPD’s gang list settlement, not everyone was sold on the idea that these technological advancements lead to fair policing. “I think at the root of it is this issue of trust, and where communities are over-policed, I think there is this erosion of trust,” said Leve. She hopes these advancements will be tested extensively before implementation and said there could be severe consequences if not. “The repercussions can be huge arrests, can be false arrests, over-policing, over-surveilling of people, so we really need to make sure that the technology is right,” said Leve. Chief Sullivan assures that privacy policies are being made and will be shared publicly. Gunshot detection is being tested right now in local neighborhoods. Chief Sullivan is optimistic that the department can have a new detection system and real-time information center, which will will sit on the fifth floor of city hall, up and operational by the spring of next year.
Source: KSN-TV
