Wichita seeks federal grant for 50-officer downtown team

Wichita officials are pursuing federal funding for a proposed 50-officer police team that would patrol downtown, Delano and the Broadway corridor.

The Downtown Area Response Team, or DART, would focus on violent crime, squatting, homeless encampments and nuisance abatements. The proposal would represent a major expansion of police staffing in Wichita’s urban core, but it does not mean the 50 officers have been hired.

The Wichita City Council’s July 14 recap listed the police-grant item among its council actions. The public records cited for the proposal do not establish whether the city ultimately submitted an application to the U.S. Department of Justice or whether federal money was awarded.

What the proposal would cover

The proposed team would be assigned to three connected parts of central Wichita: downtown, the Delano neighborhood and the Broadway corridor. The stated targets include violent crime as well as property and quality-of-life complaints involving squatting, homeless encampments and nuisance abatements.

That scope would place the team at the intersection of public safety and other highly visible urban-core issues. The proposal specifically identifies the enforcement areas, but it does not establish a citywide crime trend or prove that each targeted condition is increasing.

The plan comes as a proposed staffing and funding initiative, rather than a completed hiring program. Its practical effect would depend on federal funding, final city action and the city’s ability to support the team after the grant period.

Four-year cost estimate

City officials estimated the plan would cost nearly $25 million over four years. The city planned to seek a federal grant covering the first three years of costs, then pay the full cost in the fourth year and beyond.

The estimated cost of an entry-level officer was about $119,000 in the first year and about $130,000 in the fourth year. Those figures reflect the cost assumptions used in the proposal; they are not a final award amount or a confirmed payroll total.

The grant strategy would shift the funding question over time. Federal support could cover the proposed initial three-year period if the application were successful, while Wichita would be responsible for sustaining the full program afterward under the plan described by officials.

What happens next

The next major question is the status of the federal grant request. A grant award has not been established, and the records do not state a final federal funding amount. The final vote tally on the council action also has not been reported in the cited records.

Until those steps are resolved, the 50-officer DART remains a proposal. If funded and authorized, it would materially increase police presence in downtown Wichita, Delano and the Broadway corridor and direct that staffing toward the specific enforcement priorities named in the plan.