The Wichita Police Department is employing a new tactic in an attempt to reduce violent gun crimes. The policing model aims to place officers in areas that are at a higher risk of criminal activity. Instead of focusing on demographics, risk terrain modeling — or RTM — uses data to identify locations. “That’s a huge selling point for us, in that we’re not looking at any type of person — we're not looking at demographics or anything like that,” said Geoffrey Vail, crime analyst supervisor for the WPD. “We're just looking strictly at the landscape and looking at what types of locations correlate with gun crimes.” The police department began a 90-day run on the program in April, with the potential to continue it after the trial period. “Hopefully, after three to four months, we'll have enough volume in these areas to see if we're having an impact compared to what we would historically see,” Vail said. Vail said RTM looks for overlapping factors or locations that might contribute to higher crime in a specific area. Vail explained what RTM would look like in the event of multiple robberies. “OK, so we have four robberies in this area, but what we also need to look at is — are there grocery stores? Are there other types of locations there that lead to an environment that invites certain types of crimes to happen?” Vail said. “So, those could be grocery stores, those could be bars, they could be cell phone stores, they could be parks. All those are potential types of locations that could facilitate an environment that's conducive for crime ... And so that's really what risk terrain modeling gets at.” Vail said the model focuses on changing how officers approach crime. “A lot of this has to do with changing the way that we think about crime and the way that officers think about it,” Vail said. “... Obviously, you know, police are supposed to arrest people who are committing crimes, right? But a lot of this has to do with looking at the environment and identifying the issues in the environment, and the risk terrain model helps us identify those issues to start out with.” Officers do this by making more contact with the community. “They're having a visible presence in those areas more,” Vail said. “They're making more contacts with citizens, with businesses in that area, just get to know people better, and then also help deter what's going on in those areas.” Vail said WPD borrowed aspects from other cities that have used RTM. Kansas City, Missouri, saw a 22% drop in violent crimes in 2021 after using it for a year. On the ground
Police Capt. Chad Beard has implemented RTM at his station, Patrol East. The way RTM is utilized can vary by area, meaning east Wichita won’t utilize RTM the same way as west Wichita. “For Patrol East, what RTM identified for us was that if you were within 300 feet of a convenience store, you're nine times more likely to be involved in a gun crime … and that's a victim, other or a suspect,” Beard said. To avoid overwhelming officers with constant RTM calls, Vail said there’s only one RTM call per day. “We send an officer out to a street segment that has historically seen a lot of violent calls to service,” Vail said. “... The officer has instructions … that they need to … have some type of high visibility within the area. So, walk around the neighborhood, make contact with certain businesses ... maybe just sit.” Beard said RTM has been an all-hands-on approach across the city. The police department has partnered with multiple departments throughout the city, such as the Metropolitan Area Building and Construction Department, Park & Recreation, and Housing and Community Services. Beard said pulling in other entities means these areas that are at higher risk for gun crimes can take measures to mitigate these factors. “We start to look at, 'OK, how can we start to address those? What are those risk factors that we can start to have an impact with,' ” Beard said. “And that can be anywhere from lighting, that can be ... code violations on houses. Is there an abandoned lot that needs to have the grass mowed? Does the house need to be boarded up?” Beard stressed the limits of the police department and the importance of collaboration. “This is not just a police problem,” Beard said. “I mean, we are going to need everybody, all stakeholders involved, to assist us in trying to reduce gun violence crime.” While the WPD’s use of RTM is a trial, there’s potential to continue utilizing it after the trial period ends. “This is a pilot project, but we're building out to be very sustainable,” Vail said. “So, the goal is to have this going on for multiple years.”
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Police Capt. Chad Beard has implemented RTM at his station, Patrol East. The way RTM is utilized can vary by area, meaning east Wichita won’t utilize RTM the same way as west Wichita. “For Patrol East, what RTM identified for us was that if you were within 300 feet of a convenience store, you're nine times more likely to be involved in a gun crime … and that's a victim, other or a suspect,” Beard said. To avoid overwhelming officers with constant RTM calls, Vail said there’s only one RTM call per day. “We send an officer out to a street segment that has historically seen a lot of violent calls to service,” Vail said. “... The officer has instructions … that they need to … have some type of high visibility within the area. So, walk around the neighborhood, make contact with certain businesses ... maybe just sit.” Beard said RTM has been an all-hands-on approach across the city. The police department has partnered with multiple departments throughout the city, such as the Metropolitan Area Building and Construction Department, Park & Recreation, and Housing and Community Services. Beard said pulling in other entities means these areas that are at higher risk for gun crimes can take measures to mitigate these factors. “We start to look at, 'OK, how can we start to address those? What are those risk factors that we can start to have an impact with,' ” Beard said. “And that can be anywhere from lighting, that can be ... code violations on houses. Is there an abandoned lot that needs to have the grass mowed? Does the house need to be boarded up?” Beard stressed the limits of the police department and the importance of collaboration. “This is not just a police problem,” Beard said. “I mean, we are going to need everybody, all stakeholders involved, to assist us in trying to reduce gun violence crime.” While the WPD’s use of RTM is a trial, there’s potential to continue utilizing it after the trial period ends. “This is a pilot project, but we're building out to be very sustainable,” Vail said. “So, the goal is to have this going on for multiple years.”
