Gov. Kevin Stitt claimed that a large portion of Tulsa’s homeless population isn’t from Oklahoma as he celebrated a new initiative to clean up camps under highway bridges and overpasses, even though surveys say otherwise. 

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says it has cleared tons of trash from dozens of homeless encampments in recent weeks as part of Stitt’s Operation SAFE. One state trooper said at a press conference that most pedestrians involved in collisions are homeless, but law enforcement officials could offer no statistics to back up that claim when pressed. 

The Frontier used interviews and data on crime and homelessness to fact-check officials’ claims about homelessness and Operation SAFE.   

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Claim: A majority of auto-pedestrian crashes in Tulsa involve a person experiencing homelessness
Source: “Homelessness is a bigger issue. The more important issue is these people getting hit by cars,” Lt. Mark Southall said during a press conference on Sept. 11. “Just a couple of months ago in Oklahoma City a homeless lady was walking down I-35, she got hit by a motorcyclist, killed her, and the motorcyclist was critical. Almost all of these auto-pedestrian crashes that we work here in Oklahoma, on these interstates in Tulsa specifically, involve a homeless person.”
Fact check: Mixed

A spokesperson for the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said the agency doesn’t maintain statistics or data that confirm Southall’s statements but said it was based on trooper’s professional opinion working traffic collisions that involved pedestrians. Southall told The Frontier that lack of reflective clothing, mental health disorders, substance abuse and encampments near the roadway contributed to auto-pedestrian car wrecks.
-Ashlynd Huffman

Claim: Nearly half of the people experiencing homelessness in Tulsa came from out of state.
Source: “Our numbers show that 45% of the homeless in Tulsa are from out of state. As soon as we enforce the law, they’re going to go to another city,” Stitt told News 9. Stitt claimed an even higher number of people come from out of state during a recent interview with The Frontier, saying “We have stats that over half of the homeless people in Tulsa are from out of state.” 
Fact Check: False

During this year’s survey of people experiencing homelessness in Tulsa, 82% of respondents said their homelessness began in Oklahoma and 75% said it started in the city, according to the nonprofit Housing Solutions Tulsa, which coordinates the city’s annual survey of homelessness.

Gov. Stitt’s office did not respond to multiple emails and calls from The Frontier requesting comment. 
-Maddy Keyes

Claim: It’s more expensive to provide social services in jail than in a homeless shelter.
Source: “Justice involvement actually makes it more difficult to house people experiencing homelessness. And it’s far more expensive to provide social services in jail than it is in a proper shelter setting,” Tulsa City Councilor Lori Decter Wright wrote in a Facebook post about Operation SAFE. 
Fact check: Mixed

Wright couldn’t provide specific numbers she was referencing in her post, though she has received reports from service providers over the years that indicate it is cheaper to provide services in the community than in a jail setting. 

It costs the Tulsa County jail $75 a day to house a detainee, or about $27,000 per year, a spokesperson said. 

The cost of providing services in the community varies based on what service is being provided. Housing Solutions Tulsa, one of the city’s largest service providers, said emergency shelter averages about $88 per person, per day, while permanent supportive housing, which provides wraparound services long term to clients, costs about $27 per person, per day. 

A 2017 report from the National Alliance to End Homelessness says that supportive housing typically costs about $12,800 per person, per year. Leaving someone to experience chronic or unsheltered homelessness can cost upwards of $36,000 per year, according to the report, contributing to poor health outcomes, criminal charges and cycling in and out of hospital emergency rooms. 
-Kayla Branch

Claim: Crime is down in Tulsa and the growth of homelessness has slowed.
Source: “As background on two separate areas, crime is down in all categories, and homelessness, which grew by over 20% the year before I took office, grew by only 4% this year. We have a long way to go, but we are making progress and will continue to do so,” Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols said in a statement on Facebook. 
Fact check: Mostly true

FBI data shows property and violent crime have declined over the past decade in Tulsa. Homelessness in Tulsa increased by 22% in 2024 over the previous year, according to the annual point-in-time count.   But the figures are based on the number of people that volunteers count as homeless on a single night in January each year and only provide a brief snapshot of homelessness in a community. There were 1,449 people counted as homeless in Tulsa during the 2025 point-in-time count, up 4% from the previous year.
-Brianna Bailey 

Rating system: 
True: A claim that is backed up by factual evidence
Mostly true: A claim that is mostly true but also contains some inaccurate details 
Mixed: A claim that contains a combination of accurate and inaccurate or unproven information 
True but misleading: A claim that is factually true but omits critical details or context 
Mostly false: A claim that is mostly false but also contains some accurate details 
False: A claim that has no basis in fact