The Wichita Police Department’s Real Time Information Center has come under heightened scrutiny as it attempts to plug in to Wichita schools, offering what police say could be lifesaving insights in real-time about school shootings or large disturbances.
Police are applying for a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Justice that would install what officials describe as panic buttons throughout Wichita public schools that could feed the department’s Real Time Crime Information Center, or “Arctic,” live audio streams and allow staff to send video and photographs to authorities from inside the school.
The Wichita City Council approved applying for the grant Tuesday in a slim 4-3 vote, with several members signaling that they’re going to keep a close eye on the project after community members raised concerns about student privacy, the police department’s budget, cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, the district’s history of disciplinarydiscrimination and the government’s ever-expanding surveillance network, particularly the Arctic program that launched in September 2025…