The Tulsa Police Department has disciplined six officers after incidents where they were suspected of driving under the influence since 2016, a Frontier investigation has found. The Frontier reported the story after the Tulsa Fraternal Order of Police went to court to unsuccessfully try to keep the news organization from obtaining years’ worth of police disciplinary records.

Read the full investigation here.

Here are five takeaways from the story:

1. At least four Tulsa police officers returned to work after brief suspensions. Disciplinary records showed that officers suspected of driving while intoxicated received suspensions ranging from three to 16 days. One officer lost two days of accrued vacation time instead of suspension. 

2. Only three of the accused officers faced criminal charges. The Tulsa Police Department had criminal jurisdiction over four of the six suspected DUI cases and referred two for criminal prosecution, according to records from the district attorney’s office and municipal court. The agency said it didn’t have enough evidence to prosecute the cases. Owasso and Bixby police investigated the other two cases and forwarded both cases for criminal charges. 

3. The Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute one case. Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said two senior attorneys reviewed police body and dash camera video from the incident and found it “did not appear to reflect” that the officer was impaired. The officer declined field sobriety tests, and Kunzweiler said the lack of testing also factored into the decision not to file criminal charges. But the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has ruled that refusing sobriety tests can be used as evidence of guilt in court. A DUI lawyer told The Frontier that refusing such tests often allows prosecutors to build a stronger criminal case. 

4. All six officers are still certified police officers in Oklahoma, and all but two are still working at the Tulsa Police Department. The Council on Law Enforcement and Training, the Oklahoma state agency that licenses police officers, no longer revokes an officer’s license if they are convicted of misdemeanor driving under the influence. The agency stopped revoking police certifications for misdemeanor DUIs after an officer successfully challenged the policy in court.

5. Tulsa once considered introducing a police oversight board to review officer discipline, but efforts were scrapped after the Tulsa Fraternal Order of Police pushed back against the proposal. Mayor Monroe Nichols, who took office in December 2024, has no plans to try to reintroduce an Office of Independent Monitor, according to Laurel Roberts, the mayor’s public safety commissioner.

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Five things to know about The Frontier’s investigation into Tulsa police officers suspected of driving under the influence

by Ashlynd Baecht, The Frontier
October 1, 2025

<h1>Five things to know about The Frontier’s investigation into Tulsa police officers suspected of driving under the influence</h1> <p class="byline">by Ashlynd Baecht, The Frontier <br />October 1, 2025</p> <p class=”has-drop-cap”>The Tulsa Police Department has disciplined six officers after incidents where they were suspected of driving under the influence since 2016, a Frontier investigation has found. <em>The Frontier</em> reported the story after the Tulsa Fraternal Order of Police went to<a href=”https://www.readfrontier.org/stories/tulsa-police-union-seeks-to-keep-officer-disciplinary-records-secret/”> court</a> to <a href=”https://www.readfrontier.org/stories/judge-orders-release-of-remaining-tulsa-police-discipline-records-to-the-frontier/”>unsuccessfully</a> try to keep the news organization from obtaining years’ worth of police disciplinary records. </p> <p class=”has-drop-cap”>Read the full investigation <a href=”https://www.readfrontier.org/stories/tulsa-police-disciplined-six-officers-suspected-of-driving-drunk-some-werent-criminally-charged/”>here</a>.</p> <p><strong>Here are five takeaways from the story:</strong></p> <ol class=”wp-block-list”> <li>At least four Tulsa police officers returned to work after brief suspensions. Disciplinary records showed that officers suspected of driving while intoxicated received suspensions ranging from three to 16 days. One officer lost two days of accrued vacation time instead of suspension. </li> </ol> <ol start=”2″ class=”wp-block-list”> <li>Only three of the accused officers faced criminal charges. The Tulsa Police Department had criminal jurisdiction over four of the six suspected DUI cases and referred two for criminal prosecution, according to records from the district attorney’s office and municipal court. The agency said it didn’t have enough evidence to prosecute the cases. Owasso and Bixby police investigated the other two cases and forwarded both cases for criminal charges. </li> </ol> <ol start=”3″ class=”wp-block-list”> <li>The Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute one case. Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said two senior attorneys reviewed police body and dash camera video from the incident and found it “did not appear to reflect” that the officer was impaired. The officer declined field sobriety tests, and Kunzweiler said the lack of testing also factored into the decision not to file criminal charges. But the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has ruled that refusing sobriety tests can be used as evidence of guilt in court. A DUI lawyer told <em>The Frontier</em> that refusing such tests often allows prosecutors to build a stronger criminal case. </li> </ol> <ol start=”4″ class=”wp-block-list”> <li>All six officers are still certified police officers in Oklahoma, and all but two are still working at the Tulsa Police Department. The Council on Law Enforcement and Training, the Oklahoma state agency that licenses police officers, no longer revokes an officer’s license if they are convicted of misdemeanor driving under the influence. The agency stopped revoking police certifications for misdemeanor DUIs after an officer successfully challenged the policy in court.</li> </ol> <ol start=”5″ class=”wp-block-list”> <li>Tulsa once considered introducing a police oversight board to review officer discipline, but efforts were scrapped after the Tulsa Fraternal Order of Police pushed back against the proposal. Mayor Monroe Nichols, who took office in December 2024, has no plans to try to reintroduce an Office of Independent Monitor, according to Laurel Roberts, the mayor’s public safety commissioner.</li> </ol> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.readfrontier.org/stories/five-things-to-know-about-the-frontiers-investigation-into-tulsa-police-officers-suspected-of-driving-under-the-influence/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.readfrontier.org&quot;&gt;The Frontier&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/www.readfrontier.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/cropped-favicon.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p> &lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://www.readfrontier.org/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=28525&amp;amp;ga4=289643089&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;

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