Kansas Highway Patrol details new enforcement units, pursuit technology and scale-house procedures

TOPEKA, Kan. — The Kansas Highway Patrol outlined a series of operational changes and technology deployments Wednesday aimed at reducing crashes and improving response times on state highways.

Merle Bridal, chief of staff for the Kansas Highway Patrol, told the Senate Transportation Committee that KHP reconfigured Troop I to create a Passenger Vehicle Safety Unit that groups breath-alcohol/DUI enforcement, drug-recognition training and the ignition-interlock program with motor-assist teams that aid stranded motorists. "Troop I . . . was reconfigured to include KHP's passenger safety elements," Bridal said.

Bridal said KHP is also buying new motorcycle units to improve enforcement in congested metropolitan areas. The agency is expanding its air-support model to keep aircraft proactively airborne for quicker responses, and has started a Tactical Flight Officer program that pairs KHP pilots with trained local officers to operate onboard imaging and mapping systems.

On vehicle-pursuit safety, Bridal described testing of a bumper-mounted 'grappler' system designed to end high-speed chases by attaching to a fleeing vehicle's rear tire. "This is essentially a netting system deployed from the bumper of a patrol vehicle, that seizes the rear tire of an offender's vehicle, and they can safely bring that to a stop," she said. Bridal said KHP has had "several successful deployments" during metropolitan-area tests.

KHP also reported statewide deployment of body-worn cameras for all sworn personnel, funded by a federal grant and legislative authorization. Bridal said the cameras "keep the public and our troopers accountable" and provide an incident record covering both troopers and members of the public.

Bridal told the committee KHP uses unmanned aircraft systems (drones) for tactical operations and crash reconstruction but warned of unlawful UAS incursions near airports, power plants and correctional facilities. She said KHP received a federal grant for counter-UAS equipment tied to upcoming events and that new federal legislation allows state and local law enforcement to use some counter-UAS tools. KHP plans a task force to review remaining gaps between federal authority and state law before wider use.

On inspections and immigration enforcement at commercial vehicle weigh stations, Bridal said KHP inspects credentials and equipment and refers certain cases to federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement only after a commercial driver is placed out of service for a safety-related violation. "In instances when an out of service violation was the result of failing an English language proficiency test . . . ICE agents conduct a secondary inspection," she said, adding that an executive order made ELP an out-of-service violation. "Since the violation became an out-of-service violation in June 2025, KHP has cited that violation 358 times, as of January 9."

The presentation also noted a KDOT Innovative Technology Program grant of $60,000 for a web-based vehicle-identification-number inspection tool used when vehicles are retitled in Kansas.

The briefing closed with questions from senators about integrating crowd-sourced traffic data from apps such as Waze with KHP systems, whether the agency set ICE procedures at scale houses (Bridal said those practices derive from longstanding KHP inspections), and the state's restriction on drone purchases from certain foreign manufacturers (Bridal said KHP had already aligned procurement with U.S./DOD-preferred manufacturers and saw minimal disruption).

Bridal asked the committee to consider KHP's requests for ongoing funding and legislative support; no committee vote occurred during the session. The committee adjourned without taking formal action.