March 4, 2019 - Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan, Mayor G.T. Bynum and Downtown Coordinating Council Executive Director Brian Kurtz announced today the Tulsa Police Department (TPD) would expand their Downtown Impact Team due to the increased growth of Downtown Tulsa.
The Downtown Impact Team was created in 2014 and serves as a dedicated police unit for Downtown Tulsa. The Downtown Impact Team currently has one squad and one supervisor dedicated to downtown. TPD will add another squad along with another supervisor who will serve as community resource officers and work with residents, business owners and downtown stakeholders for public safety needs.
“Tulsa’s downtown landscape requires a different type of patrol due to the rapid pace of growth in all of the Downtown entertainment districts. The Tulsa Police Department continues to evolve to meet the needs of its citizens and it is important to have officers dedicated to Downtown Tulsa to help with the growth in nightlife, residents and events,” Chief Jordan said.
Mayor Bynum said Downtown Tulsa has turned into an 18-hour entertainment destination and the addition of community resource officers is a great step forward with our current Downtown investment.
“This shift in police presence recognizes the changing nature of Downtown Tulsa. Downtown is no longer primarily an office location that is vacant after hours. It has become the entertainment district for this region of the country, and we’ve seen over a billion dollars in private investment as a result. That growth and investment benefits every Tulsan, and the importance of safety in facilitating that growth made this a clear priority for the City,” Mayor Bynum said.
The Tulsa Police Department and the Downtown Coordinating Council have also partnered to open a Public Safety Hub located at 416 S. Main Street, which will serve as an office space for the community resource officers. The Public Safety Hub is ideally situated in the heart of downtown and allows for officers to quickly mobilize across downtown. In the near future, TPD hopes to have the Public Safety Hub open to patrons a few hours each day.
“We are so thankful to be at a point where we can match our public safety resources to the growth trajectory we are seeing in Downtown Tulsa. In six months, we have successfully opened the Public Safety Hub, a centralized office for Downtown policing and outreach efforts, and we are providing the staffing resources to make it even more successful. The Impact Team’s expansion provides nearly around the clock coverage to ensure the heart of our city and region – the front door to millions of annual visitors – remains vibrant and safe,” Brian Kurtz, Downtown Coordinating Council Executive Director said.
Community Policing in Tulsa
Composed of community members and city and police officials, the Tulsa Commission on Community Policing submitted 77 recommendations in 2017 focused on community policing needs in Tulsa. One recommendation from the Commission was the implementation of community resource officers within the community. TPD has fully implemented 97 percent of the 77 community policing recommendations on an ongoing basis. To view the full progress of the recommendations, visit: www.cityoftulsa.org/dashboards
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