PITTSBURG, Kan. — The Pittsburg City Commission invited Police Chief Brent Narges and his two chief lieutenants, Deputy Chief Ben Henderson and Major Adan Nance, to discuss the department’s current structure, responsibilities, and capabilities and what is needed going forward.

Currently, the department employs 83 full-time and one part-time personnel in three divisions: Patrol, Administration, and Criminal Investigations. Fifty-one are sworn peace officers. The department is responsible for the safety of 21,000 residents and up to 3,000 students living within a 14-square-mile area.

Policing methods used by the department are “community focused, data informed, and technology driven,” according to Chief Narges. Each division employs these methods in its unique way to build a mutual trust with the community.

To remain community focused, Narges said that data and tech will not replace personal relationships. His officers stay visible, engaged, and responsive and often have additional commitments to private civic groups or governmental adviser boards on and off duty.

The department also engages and participates in several charitable programs, the largest being Special Olympic Kansas, but also Badges and Burgers competition, car-seat checks for parents, and D.A.R.E. programs for kids.

The goal of community policing is to be a partner that the community can trust and rely on to solve problems and improve the quality of life in the city. Members of the Patrol Division carry a lot of this responsibility as they are the most visible division in the department and have the most interaction with the public.

The data-informed aspect is about information gathering and dissemination. It is taking the initial report and developing leads to guide investigations, focus resources, and improve response to better provide for a safe environment, a task that mainly falls on the Patrol and Investigative Divisions.

Lastly, the technology-driven aspect is how everything is tied together. Through the use of cameras, real-time information can be relayed to officers actively engaged in a developing situation. To illustrate this point, Major Nance showed a video of Pittsburg officers recovering a stolen car in less than two hours, simply by tracking it on the city’s license plate readers and traffic cameras. In the past, Nance said, this could have taken days, even weeks, to resolve.

The key to the technology is the Real Time Information Center, established in 2024. Based on a 20-year model first developed in New York City, the RTIC collates all incoming data from any given digital source and provides real-time analytics used to update and coordinate effective responses in a more efficient manner.

Since the implementation of the RTIC in 2024, motor vehicle theft has dropped by 15 percent; robberies have been reduced by 33 percent; and all other theft reduced by 19 percent. Clearance rates of open cases have risen to 4.31 percent — which, while seemingly low, is still nearly twice the national average. The overall crime rate in Pittsburg has dropped by 13.68 percent since 2024.

Last year, the Patrol Division alone responded to nearly 29,000 calls with an average response time of less than four minutes. More than 40 percent of those responses were officer initiated, which includes activities such as traffic stops, bar checks, security checks, and citizen engagement.

In the same year, the Investigative Division, which includes the Drug Enforcement Unit, conducted more than 240 investigations, executed 99 search warrants, completed 111 registered offender checks, seized 618 grams of methamphetamine, 140 grams of cocaine, 47 firearms, and made 121 arrests.

For 2027, the department will need to acquire 23 new ballistic vests to replace vests that have aged out for an estimated cost of $44,000 (roughly $1,900 each). The department’s current model of body camera is no longer supported by the manufacturer, so 40 new cameras will be needed, costing $85,000 for a five-year agreement. A new communication system will need to be installed that will allow Pittsburg dispatchers to more efficiently communicate with county EMS and fire departments. These improvements will largely be paid for with the Public Safety Sales Tax.

The county has also notified PPD that prisoner housing rates will double from $25 per day to $50, meaning the city’s bill for housing prisoners will, on average, increase from $45,000 annually to $90,000, paid out of the city’s general fund.

The city’s animal shelter needs to be upgraded to comply with Kansas Department of Agriculture standards.

As downtown grows, parking becomes an issue. The PD is working with the city’s IT to enhance parking enforcement through digital media. Cameras will log and monitor how long a car has been parked in a downtown space between peak hours. If parked longer than the posted two hours, a newly created parking enforcement officer will be notified to ticket the vehicle.

Future plans, beyond 2027, include the purchase of a mobile command center for use in the field. In cases where officers will be on-scene for several hours processing evidence, it would be helpful to have a secure vehicle in which to store the evidence on site until it can be turned over to the city’s evidence clerks for proper processing and cataloguing.

The department also needs to upgrade its shooting range for firearms qualifications.

Finally, a capability that seems more out of a science-fiction film than real life is the DFR Program. Drones as First Responders would allow the department to deploy drones around the city. When an emergency call comes into 9-1-1, a nearby drone can be immediately dispatched from its “hangar” to the emergency location, using its cameras to provide real-time footage of what is happening on scene as officers and emergency personnel are enroute.

This capability would not only be useful to police in continuously tracking a suspect across town instead of relying just on traffic cameras, but also to firefighters, allowing them to begin planning their strategy before arriving at a fire or accident scene.

Narges completed his presentation by reiterating that his department’s budget is based on providing and maintaining a certain level of service the community expects.

“The demands on law enforcement continue to evolve,” Narges said in closing, “and this budget is designed to help us respond effectively while remaining accountable to the community.”