Norman formally opposes OHP decision to pull out of metro interstate

The City of Norman is the third city to officially oppose a decision from Oklahoma Highway Patrol to no longer patrol certain highways in Oklahoma’s two largest metros.

Wednesday, August 13th 2025, 5:58 am

By: Matt McCabe

NORMAN, Okla. -

The Norman City Council has joined a list of two other cities that are officially opposed to a decision by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol to pull its troopers off certain interstates in the Oklahoma City and Tulsa metropolitan areas.

In all, the Department of Public Safety listed seven cities affected by the move: Edmond, Oklahoma City, Moore, Norman, Del City, Midwest City, and Tulsa.

Last month, Midwest City and Del City each passed resolutions in opposition. Norman Mayor Stephen Holman said he was inspired by those actions.

“I think the Highway Patrol has a duty to control the highways of Oklahoma in the urban and rural areas,” Holman said. “And, there were a lot of challenges presented for us as a city to try to take over that responsibility, especially if we didn't have any additional funding or resources from the state to be able to do that.”

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol and the Department of Public Safety have differing opinions about the change.

“We’re hopeful that it will result in the citizens of Oklahoma see that the Oklahoma Highway Patrol is in a better place to be able to serve their needs and protect them,” said Department of Public Safety Commissioner Tim Tipton during a July news conference.

News 9 contacted the Department of Public Safety for a comment on Norman’s resolution, but has not yet received a response.

“When we heard about the plan moving forward on November 1 to pull back from the highways, of course, that caused us some concern,” said Norman Deputy Chief Ricky Jackson. “And, so we looked into the numbers and we realized, quite quickly, that it's not something that we could feasibly do because of staffing. We didn't get a chance to request additional staffing in the budgetary process for fiscal year ‘26.”

Jackson said he hasn’t learned if the changes will affect OU game day policing resources.

Oklahoma City Senator Mark Mann’s request to the Attorney General for an opinion on Drummond's decision is still pending.

Matt McCabe

Matt McCabe joined the News 9 team in May 2023 as a multimedia journalist. He’s an award-winning journalist and previously worked in Rockford, IL and Kansas City, MO. Matt is very passionate about visual journalism and served on the board of the National Press Photographers Association.