Tulsa business owners, city leaders work together for solutions to downtown crime

Some downtown Tulsa business owners want to see police do more to stop minor crimes in the area before they turn into bigger crimes.

The City of Tulsa and Tulsa Police say they are doing more to make sure downtown is a safe, friendly place for everyone.

BUSINESS OWNER PERSPECTIVE

Downtown business owners want to see crime reduced so business will go up.

Mike Bausch owns Andolini’s and would like to see police stop some of the smaller issues that can lead to big ones.

"People just loitering, while not ideal, has become too much, and I know that's why a lot of other owners are getting frustrated,” said Bausch. “For us, it's the property damage, and it's the lack of attention to it because when that becomes okay, then worse things start to become okay."

He says the problem lies not with homelessness, but with crime.

"There's a lot of homeless people who are just trying to get on their feet, and there's a lot of avenues for them to do that, especially in Tulsa,” said Bausch. “The vagrancy problem has been unattended, and it's led to a lot of property crimes and other issues."

Bausch agrees the curfew is a step in the right direction and hopes there will be more people held accountable when it comes to making downtown a safe place for everyone to enjoy.

"We'd like to just see more effort to get people the help they need, and if they are infringing on a business's ability to be a proactive business, that there's something done,” said Bausch.

NUISANCE ENFORCEMENT

Business owners are talking to the City of Tulsa and Tulsa Police to encourage more enforcement of city nuisance laws, things like blocking a sidewalk or street, trespassing, loitering, and urinating in public.

Joel Wohlgemuth is an attorney who represents several downtown business owners and developers who are worried about this problem.

"A city can't abdicate its responsibility to enforce the laws that relate to the creation and perpetuation of nuisances, because the enforcement of those laws is going to eliminate a significant part of the problem we now have,” said Wohlgemuth.

Wohlgemuth is grateful for the city’s response to these meetings and hopes to see a solution soon.

"We just come together and have an understanding of what laws are applicable, what discretion may be appropriate from the standpoint of seeking enforcement, what the priorities are,” said Wohlgemuth.

Wohlgemuth agrees with Bausch that the problem is not homelessness, but people committing crimes.

"We can't confuse the basic homeless issue with the problem of crime,” said Wohlgemuth. “Which is the crime that is being created by a piece of the population."

CITY LEADERS

The City of Tulsa says it meets on a regular basis with business owners and they’ve increased the number of officers downtown more than any other area, and feel like they’re making good headway.

It sent this statement to News On 6:

“The City has been in multiple meetings with downtown stakeholders over the past few months as we work to create a strong and vibrant downtown area. We can confirm another meeting with downtown stakeholders was held [Wednesday] at City Hall. In this particular meeting, a discussion surrounding downtown safety and nuisances were discussed near the bus station and DGX. Our team has been working on various options when it comes to housing and homelessness services with our partners. We are confident that between the work underway and the good work of our community response teams that solutions are in place to meet our goals as a city.”

CURFEW LATEST

Tulsa Police say the curfew on teenagers in downtown on the weekends is another good step.

"It's not just the police department, I do feel like the community, and Tulsans, recognize, there's a problem,” said Captain Richard Meulenberg with Tulsa Police. “When we had a weekend of shootings all involving young adults and multiple people, 27 people shot in a period of four days, including one homicide at Juneteenth. I think that was a big wake-up call for the community."

Meulenberg says it takes a village to make a difference.

"I think that a lot is happening that we don't see,” said Meulenberg. “You see our enforcement, we're out there. But you see a lot more with people in the community and parents being more concerned about dangers to their kids and dangers to young individuals in this town."

He says so far it’s been a success.

"Downtown is still another mission where we have upstaffed it,” said Meulenberg. “We have members of our motorcycle unit, members of our traffic units, who are downtown on those weekend nights to help enforce and educate the juveniles and help bolster our response to larger crowds."