A police union has sued to prevent the release of officer disciplinary records after The Frontier asked Tulsa for the documents.
The Tulsa Police Department already released over 100 pages of records to The Frontier on April 17, which show disciplinary actions for officers who were found to have violated agency policies. The violations ranged from failing to clean a police vehicle to excessive use of force.
The Tulsa Fraternal Order of Police asked a Tulsa County judge for an emergency order to prevent the city from releasing any more records on April 28. The police union said in a court filing that it was notified that the police department would release officer personnel records at 3 p.m. that afternoon.
The police union argued in a court filing that its collective bargaining agreement requires the city to purge and expunge officer disciplinary records from divisional files after periods ranging from one to five years, depending on the seriousness of the action. The agreement states the records will still be retained by Tulsa Police internal affairs in accordance with the City of Tulsa’s records retention policy.
The release of records would cause “certain and irreparable harm” to members of the Tulsa Fraternal Order of Police, the union argued.
Tulsa County District Court Judge Caroline Wall granted the police union’s request for a temporary restraining order the same day.
An online portal said The Frontier’s records request was still open and “waiting for clarification” on May 1.
The Tulsa Police Department closed The Frontier’s records request on May 2, four days after the judge’s order.
The Frontier hasn’t received a response from the Tulsa Police Department regarding the release of more records.
Another hearing is scheduled for May 14. According to the judge’s ruling, the court could find the City of Tulsa in contempt if it violates the order in the meantime.
Dr. Joey Senat, a journalism professor and open records expert at Oklahoma State University, told The Frontier that Tulsa’s agreement with the police union to destroy disciplinary records was bad government and shocking.
“This all boils down to hiding records that show officers have been reprimanded for doing something wrong,” Senat said.
Final disciplinary actions that involve suspension, demotion, loss of pay or termination are public under the Oklahoma Open Records Act.
A spokesperson for the Tulsa Police Department said the agency couldn’t discuss the case because of the ongoing litigation.
Neither Jeff Downs, president of the Tulsa Fraternal Order of Police, nor an attorney for the union, responded to The Frontier’s requests for comment.