Wichita police have arrested more than 600 suspects and recovered millions of dollars in stolen property during the first year of a task force created to combat property crimes.
Wichita police have received help from other cities to catch the offenders.
In July, Wichita police reported property crimes such as burglary and auto thefts were down an average of 15% from the previous year.
Last year, Wichita police created the Property Crimes Reduction Task Force to combat shoplifting and car theft. Since then, officers have recovered nearly $7.5 million in stolen property, including more than 400 stolen cars and 51 guns.
A dozen law enforcement agencies are now a part of the task force.
The Wichita task force was recently named the International Association of Financial Crime Investigators’ Task Force of the Year.