WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — The Wichita City Council was about to approve a federal grant for the Wichita Police Department Tuesday morning when Wichita Mayor Lily Wu pulled the item and asked for a WPD explanation first.
Captain Aaron Moses, accompanied by Police Chief Joe Sullivan, came to the podium, gave the council the latest crime statistics and explained how the department has used previous Project Safe Neighborhoods grants.
“The overall crime picture is overall encouraging related to violent crime,” Moses said. “For this year, year-to-date, homicides are currently down 20% compared to 2023 and down 15% compared to the five-year average.”
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There have been 20 murders so far this year, compared to 25 in 2023.
“The big thing we’re seeing is a large decrease in shootings,” he said. “Fatal shootings are down 41.2% compared to 2023 and down 12.7% compared to the five-year average. And non-fatal shootings are down 31.25% compared to 2023 and down 33.1% compared to the five-year average.”