City of Tulsa and 12 & 12, Inc. (12 & 12) officials announced today that the Tulsa Sobering Center, a jail diversion program designed to offer an alternative for adult men and women detained for public intoxication, will open this May following construction and renovation of the facility.
“In a model that has worked across the country, we expect the Tulsa Sobering Center to provide substantial cost savings to our Tulsa Police Department and Municipal Courts based on reduced jail and police expenses, while serving a larger community-wide effort to reduce the number of adults with mental illness and substance use disorders who are incarcerated,” Mayor G.T. Bynum said.
In collaboration with the Tulsa Police Department, the Tulsa Sobering Center will be operated by 12 & 12, a leader in addiction treatment and recovery. 12 &12 will be able to connect adults who suffer with alcoholism or other addictions, to opportunities to access long-term counseling and rehabilitation programs for substance abuse treatment.
At the discretion of the detaining police officer, adults detained for public intoxication, who have not committed any other crimes, will be taken to the Tulsa Sobering Center for a 10-hour period to “sleep it off” in a safe clean environment. During their stay, participants will be provided with food, a place to rest and at their discretion, information about and access to counseling and rehabilitation programs for substance abuse.
“Operating the Tulsa Sobering Center, here at our main facility, will allow us to connect participants who suffer with alcoholism or other addictions to opportunities to access our nationally accredited counseling and rehabilitation programs for substance abuse treatment,” Bryan Day, CEO of 12 & 12 said.
At the end of the holding period, adults will be released from Tulsa Sobering Center without criminal charges, court dates or a record of arrest. Also, 12 & 12 will arrange for participants to be transported, by a third-party, to an off-site location of the participant’s choosing.
Tulsa Sobering Center participants are separated by gender. The facility can house up to 42 participants simultaneously with a maximum of 25 males and 17 females. The Tulsa Sobering Center will be a 24/7/365 operation which is utilized at the sole discretion of the Tulsa Police Department. The Sobering Center facility will not be open to the public.
“Utilizing the Sobering Center will save police officer time by addressing the needs of intoxicated individuals quickly so our officers can immediately return to the field to help with more pressing issues citywide,” Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan said.
The City of Tulsa will provide $250,000 annually for 12 & 12 to operate the Sobering Center. Build-out costs for the facility are being paid by a private donation to 12 & 12 from the Hardesty Family Foundation. The construction company selected for the project is Black Rock Construction Management, LLC.
For more information about the Tulsa Sobering Center, visit: www.tulsapolice.org
About 12 & 12, Inc.
12 & 12, Inc. is a Comprehensive Community Addiction Recovery Center (CCARC) that offers life-saving recovery tools for adults suffering with addiction or co-existing mental health and substance use disorders to achieve individualized recoveries. For more information about 12 & 12 Inc., visit: www.12and12.org
Community Policing in Tulsa
Composed of community members and city and police officials, the Tulsa Commission on Community Policing submitted 77 recommendations focused on community policing needs in Tulsa. One recommendation from the Commission was the addition of jail diversion programs that benefits the entire community. You can continue to track the progress of the recommendations by visiting, www.cityoftulsa.org/dashboards
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