Captain Aaron Moses, Wichita Police Department, told the City Council that the department would like permission to apply for FY25 COPS School Violence Prevention Program grant funding to buy school-safety and public-notification technology.

Moses said the application seeks "up to $500,000 over 36 months with a 25% match," and that the department plans to link the equipment to the city’s Real Time Information Center so dispatchers would be able to see school floor plans and the precise location of any alert.

The request is limited to permission to apply; Moses said the initial application deadline had been missed but the city manager granted a waiver to submit last week and the final application is due this week. He added the city’s maximum match would be about $42,000 annually, to be paid from the Real Time Information Center operating budget.

Moses said the department hopes to outfit all secondary schools in Wichita Public Schools first, and ultimately all 93 attendance centers in USD 259 if the grant is awarded. He also told the council the school district is separately applying to the same COPS program for building infrastructure and would carry its own 25% match.

Council members discussed intergovernmental coordination; one member thanked Chief Sullivan and USD 259 Superintendent Bielefeld for pursuing a collaborative approach combining infrastructure (district) and technology (city). No outside funding commitment from the school district was reported for the city’s proposed technology purchase.

A council member made a motion to approve the application; it passed unanimously, 7-0.

The city’s action was only to authorize submission of the grant application; no grant award or procurement decision was made at the meeting. If funded, the city would need to finalize the local match and procurement details and return to the council for any required budget or contract actions.