The Wichita Police Department began community policing in an unusual way. The transition occurred as a result of the mayor and city council pushing the concept in a comprehensive community improvement program called the neighborhood initiative. Elected officials supported the initial implementation in 1993 with a million-dollar investment. Both the city council and mayor felt strongly that community policing was the avenue for changing the community.

A steering committee of police and government officials selected four high-crime neighborhoods to target for service. The committee then chose 15 officers and two supervisors to receive training in mediating neighborhood disputes, problem solving, using community resources and working with diverse populations.

Four officers were assigned to each neighborhood and equipped with vehicles, radios, pagers and bicycles. They set up offices in two elementary schools, a recreation center and a shopping mall. The officers were relieved of 911 call responsibility and focused on developing partnerships with the community while solving neighborhood problems. Officers met with community leaders and citizens to develop crime-fighting strategies for individual neighborhoods. Initially, officers coordinated meetings and neighborhood clean-ups. Today, the community has taken the leadership role in improving their neighborhoods, and law enforcement provides the support.

Implementation Takes Time

It took approximately 18 months for the community and the police department to define what community policing meant for Wichita. The police officers assigned to the four neighborhood target areas helped clarify the role of the community police officer. The successes and failures of these officers were critical factors in implementing community policing citywide. The decision to deploy officers in target areas was criticized by observers who felt that all neighborhoods should be involved. Implementing community policing in selected neighborhoods proved to be the right move as this strategy provided insight into training, community needs and long-term implementation strategies. The expertise of the 15 officers assigned to the targeted neighborhoods helped make for a smoother transition to citywide community policing.

Implementation was difficult at times. Many of the officers had witnessed the department's failed experiment with team policing in the late 70s. The similarities between team policing and community policing made officers reluctant to adopt the new philosophy. In addition, some officers felt that changing to a new philosophy meant they weren't doing their job properly according to traditional policing standards. Adopting community policing required a change in philosophy for all personnel and a change in the organization's structure to support the concept. Management knew that if community policing was to succeed in Wichita, the structure of the organization had to support innovative problem solving and empower officers at the line level.

Restructuring the Department

Management restructured the Wichita Police Department and increased authority and responsibility for personnel dealing with community problems on a day-to-day basis. They divided the field service division (patrol) into four bureaus and placed a captain over each one to oversee all patrol activities. The captains operate as mini-chiefs and customize police services for the areas they serve. Every bureau has nine response zones (beats) with two officers per shift assigned to 911 call responsibility. A community police officer is assigned to each response zone and coordinates all community activities. They also help plan strategies for solving crime in the area. A team is composed of beat officers and a community police officer.

Management also made changes in the investigations division. They divided undercover officers into four teams with each team responsible for establishing investigations and communications within each patrol bureau. The property crimes bureau consisted of three separate sections--bunco larceny, burglary and auto theft--before reorganization. Today, detectives are divided into four geographic districts that mirror patrol operations. The detectives are considered generalists and work only on crimes that occur in their assigned areas. A select number of detectives who operated in specialized positions such as the financial crime coordinator, crime stoppers coordinator and the juvenile crime coordinator, were kept in place during the change. The crimes against persons bureau stayed structurally the same, but a full examination of its operations took place. Brainstorming sessions and training on customer service and communications helped improve performance.

The Department Today

Community policing training has been emphasized throughout the department. Early on, the staff worked with other city departments to develop the curricula necessary to adequately prepare officers for their new roles. All officers, regardless of assignment, were required to attend a three-part training series that included diversity training, conflict resolution, problem solving and resource utilization. In addition, all supervisors attended mandatory community policing training. More recently, officers attended "unity-based" training. In this training, all six officers assigned to a response zone, on all three shifts, and the community police officers assigned to the beat, attended training on crime analysis information and team building. The officers sat together in class and participated as a team. The training reinforced the concept of teamwork and communication.

Community policing could not have been successfully implemented in Wichita unless the officers adopted the philosophy and the department's management, training and overall structure had been changed to support it.

By Deputy Chief Stephen N. Cole
July 1996 

Wichita Mayor Supports Police Department's Transition

In many respects, Wichita is like many other cities its size. Although our location in the middle of the country isolates us to some degree from national crime trends, the city's Part I crimes began to escalate in 1990 and increased for the next four years. It soon became evident that traditional policing methods were not keeping up with the problems. Despite Wichita having one of the lowest rates of taxation among cities its size, the city council did not believe that citizens would tolerate an increased tax burden.

City management developed the neighborhood initiative to implement community policing in four city areas even though most of the Part I crimes were occurring primarily in only one area. The neighborhood initiative is a comprehensive strategic plan that focuses not only on what Wichita leadership can do to improve livability in the community, but also on what individuals and neighborhood groups can do to address economic concerns, neighborhood blight and the social breakdown that often leads to the decline of a city. The neighborhood initiative program resulted in a reduction of Part I crimes and led the police department and city leaders to conclude that community policing was a success and should be used in other areas of Wichita. The department also implemented other initiatives, such as the neighborhood patrol, peer-to-peer program and citizen academy.

The results have been very encouraging. There has been a significant and steady decline of Part I crimes in areas where community policing officers were introduced. Moreover, beat officers are now implementing community policing citywide with significant positive results. From my perspective, there's no question that community policing is working in Wichita.

By Mayor Bob Knight
July 1996

Wichita's Community Policing History

Neighbor to Neighbor

School Liason Program

  Citizen's Police Academy