WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - The Wichita City Council is diverting COVID-19 grant funding that had been intended for hiring a pandemic-control officer and is instead using it to lease software that ensures police officers don’t cheat on their training.
In May, the council earmarked about $250,000 to hire an emergency management coordinator to manage the police department’s response to the pandemic, the Wichita Eagle reported.
Police told the council Tuesday that they were unable to fill the position and wanted to divert $165,000 of the funds to lease for three years software that will track officers’ training online, a capability the department has sought for years.
The department had advertised the two-year position of COVID emergency manager, but neither of the two finalists would take the job, said administrative division Capt. Dan East.
Mayor Brandon Whipple said the money could have been better spent to hire someone to act as a liaison with county and state government to create a more coordinated response to the viral pandemic. He also questioned why city staff sat on the money for nine months before proposing an alternate use for it.
Moore said the software meets the grant conditions because so much of police training has had to move online.
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