Downtown Tulsa Public Safety Forum addresses spike in summer crime, city leaders give downtown curfew update

Crime over the Summer

The Downtown Tulsa Public Safety Forum on August 26th marks the first meeting since an officer-involved shooting where five people were shot and one man died near 2nd and Elgin in May. Just after that, a man was shot and killed during a Juneteenth celebration in Tulsa’s Greenwood District and seven others were injured. And recently, a woman was injured in a stabbing while on board a Tulsa bus. 

“When we started off the summer, we did have some several high-profile violent events that happened both downtown but also citywide,” said Major Mark Ohnesorge with the Tulsa Police Department. 

Downtown Curfew Update

A lot has changed since the last Downtown Public Safety Forum meeting, including a new curfew for minors after multiple downtown shootings. Major Ohnesorge says those incidents drove the city to act fast, including creating a summer task force.

“It seems to have done a great job because after that point, our summer kind of cooled off a little bit downtown; we weren’t seeing the huge crowds of kids that were coming downtown that we saw previously,” Major Ohnesorge said. 

Gaining Clarity

Marta Young used to live downtown and is in the process of moving back. She says she came to the forum to gain some clarity about what to do during situations like that.

“When an incident happens, our natural reaction, we’re panicking inside and we’re thinking, what do we do? Where do we call? How do I be safe? Is everyone else safe?” she said. 

Moving Towards a Safer City

City leaders say they're glad to see the number of conversations and coordination between agencies. 

“A lot of people have a lot of motivation and a lot of good intentions to do some good work here downtown to really make Tulsans feel safe when they come downtown to work, live or play. Every major downtown does have its problem; we’re not unique here in Tulsa, and so figuring out what those are, isolating some strategic problem-solving initiatives, and really ensuring that people continue to feel safe downtown has always been our priority, and so hopefully we’ll continue to do that,” said Major Ohnesorge.