Tulsa leaders are considering creating an independent system to oversee the conduct of all city public safety employees, expanding on earlier failed plans for civilian oversight of police.
The new proposal would cover the Tulsa Police Department and all other city public safety divisions, including the fire department, emergency management and communications, code enforcement and animal welfare.
The Tulsa City Council is expected to consider an ordinance on Wednesday to establish the Office of Independent Review and Oversight of Public Safety, which would have access to investigative reports, interviews, evidence, and other information to evaluate how public safety personnel handle cases, including discharging a firearm or other deadly use-of-force incidents, in-custody deaths, duty-related deaths, and force that causes serious bodily injury. The office could also monitor certain force-related crimes if they constitute a misdemeanor or felony.
The proposal would also create the 11-member Civilian Oversight Board comprised of Tulsa residents appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the city council. The oversight board wouldn’t have access to reports disclosing public safety employees’ identities.
“The citizen board would just be looking at the patterns, the policies, and how transparent things are. And overall, is the oversight system working? Most citizens we talked to do not want entities investigating themselves,” said Lori Decter Wright, Tulsa City Councilor for District 7.
The proposed board also would not have the power to investigate or impose discipline on public-safety employees involved in internal affairs investigations. Decter Wright said the citizens’ board would ensure departments are completing thorough investigations. An earlier proposal for a police oversight office was projected to cost the city about $500,000 a year in 2019, for director and staff salaries.
The city first considered creating a police oversight office in the wake of the 2016 shooting of Terrance Crutcher, an unarmed Black man, by Tulsa Police Officer Betty Shelby. A lawsuit that Crutcher’s estate filed against Shelby is still ongoing. Former Tulsa mayor G.T. Bynum announced a plan in 2019 to create the Office of the Independent Monitor to help with policy, outreach and oversight of police. But he abruptly pulled the plug on that a few months later. In 2022, city councilor Vanessa Hall-Harper and Decter Wright revived the proposal, this time as a city charter amendment. But the City Council voted 7 to 2 against the proposal. Some councillors voted against it based on legal advice that the police union could challenge it.
Public scrutiny of Tulsa public safety workers has continued in recent years. The Frontier reported in 2025 that the Tulsa Police Department disciplined six officers for driving drunk, but none of them were fired. At the Sept. 23 council meeting, Tulsans raised concerns about the hefty lawsuits plaguing the city. The city has paid millions to settle wrongful convictions, including William Henry Jamerson, who spent over two decades behind bars for a rape conviction he said he didn’t commit. Jamerson repeatedly asked the Tulsa Police Department and prosecutors to test the DNA in the rape kit. He was told the evidence had been destroyed, but that was false. City councilors approved a $26.25 million settlement in November 2025. Tulsa announced the immediate closure of its city jail in July after The Frontier reported on at least seven deaths in the city lockup.
Decter Wright said the conversation shifted from oversight of police to all public safety because police and fire departments aren’t the only ones interacting with the community.
The Tulsa Fraternal Order of Police opposes the new proposal. At the Sept. 23 city council meeting, Sean McKenna, legal representative for the Tulsa Fraternal Order of Police, urged the board not to approve the ordinance.
“In fact, we’ve heard a lot about oversight from the members of the community. I would just like to point out that robust, multi-layered oversight already exists and includes national accreditation and existing advisory boards advising the Tulsa Police Department,” McKenna said.
The police department already has oversight from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office, and other investigative agencies, he said.
He also said there were concerns the review board would clash with the city’s collective bargaining agreement with the union, which gives the police chief the authority to administer officer discipline.
While law enforcement can investigate and prosecute crimes, the oversight board would look at whether an investigation is complete and follows policies. Decter Wright said she believes it would help ensure all employees receive fair discipline.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
Ashlynd Baecht joined The Frontier in 2023 as a criminal justice reporter. Contact Ashlynd at Ashlynd@readfrontier.com