Operation SAFE Failed Tulsa

When Oklahoma Highway Patrol began sweeping Tulsa-area homeless encampments and carting off people's belongings in September, Oklahoma's governor Kevin Stitt posted gleeful videos of bulldozers, dump trucks and flashing lights. You know, big boy stuff.

As much as this impressed the bots cheering Stitt in his Twitter comments, the response has been less unanimous than our governor might have anticipated. Sure it all seemed cruel and ill-informed, but what were the real-world results? A little over a month later, the verdict is clear: not only were these executive actions callous and disruptive, they were also expensive and ineffective, as measured against state officials' own declared (albeit shifting) goals. 

Thanks to unsolicited state involvement—at a cost of over half a million taxpayer dollars—we’re no closer to addressing the problems associated with the lived experience of homelessness in Tulsa. And if you ask local service providers, they’ll tell you that the governor’s sweeps set us back even further.

Last week representatives from several Tulsa service providers met to discuss the impact of Operation SAFE. Collectively, their organizations provide hundreds of thousands of client contacts annually and have 172 years of experience addressing homelessness and housing insecurity in Tulsa. 

“While aimed at restoring order, [Operation SAFE] sparked debate about whether such top-down measures truly resolve root causes or simply displace those in need,” said Josh Sanders of the Tulsa Day Center during the meeting’s opening remarks. 

Each representative cited specific ways the state set back their own organization's work, either by disrupting contact with clients who receive services, short-circuiting pathways to permanent housing, or eroding trust with unhoused individuals.

That trust will be difficult to restore. “Sweeps disrupt lives by causing the loss of personal belongings,” said Steven Whitaker, president and CEO of John 3:16 Mission. Lost in loads trucked to landfills were birth certificates, cash savings and other forms of identification, all critical assets for anybody trying to get a job or housing. 

In the wake of initial sweeps, street outreach teams also reported increased suspicion from their unhoused clients. To those living in remaining or relocated encampments, "services right now mean enforcement," said Sanders.

Of all the organizations represented at the Tulsa Day Center event, none reported any individual directly brought in for services by OHP during their weeks of Tulsa sweeps. OHP told KOSU that  they transported one person for services during the entire operation. Yes, one. 

Let’s call this what it is—for half a million dollars and a bunch of repurposed highway patrol officers, the state frustrated, scared and displaced people who were already struggling. And for what purpose?

In the face of ongoing scrutiny, Governor Stitt’s answer to that question kept changing. One day Operation SAFE was about restoring order and keeping neighborhoods safe. The next it was about connecting unhoused individuals with safe alternatives to street sleeping. Then it was about preventing deadly traffic accidents before he finally settled on celebrating the disposal of what he called “debris.” 

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Whatever the reasoning, Governor Stitt is pushing forward undeterred. He announced Monday that Oklahoma City was next up "after the success of Operation SAFE in Tulsa." In a notable shift from the approach employed in Tulsa, the state is "partnering with Key to Home, an Oklahoma City-based public/private partnership, to connect those individuals we move from state property to services and housing."

Partnering with local organizations and officials sounds like a great place to start. Interestingly enough, Tulsa’s Mayor Monroe Nichols announced Safe Move Tulsa in August, a coordinated initiative backed by $6 million in newly appropriated funds. Mayor Nichols’ plan leverages additional resources with the expertise and relationships of established local organizations, towards the specific aim of rehousing 300 people. 

Paired with rental assistance and wraparound support, the mayor’s effort takes the long view in its  attempt to address homelessness in our city. Sanders described Safe Move Tulsa as a “community-driven response that prioritizes stability over sweeps and housing over displacement.” Of approaches like this, Whitaker added, “That's not cheap. That's not easy, but it is the best way.”