City officials are looking to prevent violent crime in Tulsa before it happens — and at a recent meeting, police shared numbers and stories to highlight the importance of these efforts.
Announced in December, the city’s community-based violence initiative looks to address root causes of violence particularly among young people through intervention led by community partners. It’s funded by a $2 million dollar Department of Justice grant.
At a city council meeting Wednesday, police captain Shelley Seibert said Tulsa police recovered 400 guns in 2024. She also said violence in Tulsa is often passed down in families.
“Our guys out in our special investigations unit, when they’re serving search warrants, they’re serving them on certified gang members that are older juveniles, but then there’s younger people in the house, and we know what’s going to happen from that. And there’s no one there to intervene,” Seibert said.
As it rolls out, the initiative will pay for a grant coordinator and services through nonprofit Impact Tulsa, which will measure outcomes. City Mental Health Officer Rebecca Hubbard says it will also employ intervention services as they identify needs in the community.
“When we engage with individuals who are involved in violence and we’re able to support a different direction, we will be able to assess what types of support services we need, and that’s when we’ll be able to engage what types of workers will go in,” Hubbard said.
Deputy Chief Mark Wollmershauser said federal officials support programs like Tulsa’s initiative because it works in partnership with law enforcement.
“It’s not an alternate approach — ‘Do this instead of this.’ It’s ‘Do this along with what you’re doing, police departments, because in conjunction with all that, it’s great,’” Wollmershauser said.
Hubbard says progress reports on the initiative will be published, but real-time data will not be made public to protect at-risk youth.
