By Paris Rain, FOX23.com News Staff
TULSA, Okla. — Tulsa leaders are asking the community to help shape the future of the city’s police department.
Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols and Commissioner of Public Safety Laurel Roberts hosted a listening session Tuesday evening.
Mayor Nichols said his goal is to make the very best decision for the city as it is right now and the input he has gotten from the community will be part of that because he wants to find someone who is reflective of the things the community members of Tulsa are looking for.
“What I now understood from thefour or five engagements that we had in small groups and in larger groups, that there’s a lot of alignment [in] what people expect,” said Nichols. “That means you can have that conversation with every candidate and see how they demonstrate how they might fulfill those expectations that every citizen that we’ve talked to has had, in the next police chief.”
Tulsans weighed in on questions like ‘What does Public Safety mean to you?’ and ‘What quality matters most in a leader?,’ ‘What is the number one Public Safety issue in your neighborhood right now?’ and ‘How should the next chief build trust with Tulsans?’
“One thing we’ve heard consistently, feedback wise, is ‘we want to see our chief, we want to know our chief, we want our chief to know our problems. We want him to hear us, and I think it’s important to build those relationships on the foundation our police department functions on, said Roberts. “It’s an important component of trust.”
Both the mayor and commissioner gave their insight on how they felt a chief could live up to those answers and what they would be looking for.
“The Chief of Police leads our department. They are the leaders of our department, they are to set vision, set strategy, set priorities, [and] lead by example. [They] will be our community ambassador,” Roberts said. “There are so many titles and hats that a police chief wears. It’s really important to get it right and get it tailored to what Tulsa’s needs are and how we can best move forward.”
“You look at a chief making sure that they are reflective of the type of community that you are is reallycritically important,” said Nichols. “I think that happens not necessarily just in the blue when you’re walking in target, but how people feel about the department and how people feel about the people protecting them every day, I think, does have an impact on what they think about the city overall.”
Following the question portion, they allowed the community to share any concerns or tell them what they are expecting and when it comes to a timeline on when they hope to fill the position, the mayor said this.
“Chief Larsen officially September 30th. My goal is to make sure that somebody is here for, at minimum, those last 30 days of his time, with the Tulsa Police Department, and I do want to sayhow much I appreciate Chief Larson service,” said Nichols. “47 years in the Tulsa Police Department, is a big deal. He served just about every division. He is a legendary bomb unit member. He is someone who I hope the next chief comes in an says, ‘hey, you know, I want to be the type of leader that understands this department in similar ways.’”
On Thursday, the mayor will have a listening session with young Tulsans to learn what youth are looking for in the next police chief.
