Wichita Police Call for Expanding Flock System and ‘Shot Detectors’

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – New information from Wichita Police shows most shootings in some areas go unreported. That’s why the department is calling for an expansion of its flock surveillance system and devices known as “shot detectors.” Gunshot detection devices are installed in areas of central and southern Wichita. The detectors directly notify officers of shots fired nearby. The WPD hopes to install more throughout the city.

“We know people want us to respond, and we can’t respond if we don’t know what’s happening,” summarized WPD Captain Aaron Moses.

Moses said the gunshot detection devices are based on “triangulation.”

So three separate sensors have to detect the shots. If so, a five-second recording of those shots will be made available to officers in the area. And it identifies a GPS location where those shots likely came from,” he explained.

The placement of gunshot detectors is based on hot spot data related to firearm crimes. One of these hotspots is Fairmount Park, just south of 17th Street between Hillside and Oliver.

Madison Langston lives near the park and says the detection devices make her feel safer.

“I have a family. There is a park here, there are children. I mean, I think there’s just more security that the police know what’s happening so they can get here sooner,” she said.

Langston stated that hearing gunshots is not unusual in the Fairmount Park area.

“It’s definitely gotten to the point where if I hear gunshots, I may or may not call the alarm,” she said.

Wichita police hope to expand the gunshot detection area from two square miles to four square miles with approval from the Wichita City Council. The cost of WPD’s expansion application to expand flock devices and gunshot detection devices is approximately $337,000. The City Council is expected to vote on the proposed expansions at its meeting on Tuesday.

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