Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt suddenly announced Thursday evening a new program to more aggressively police and displace unhoused people camping on state-owned property in Tulsa.
Announced via a news release, “Operation SAFE (Swift Action for Families)” directs the Oklahoma Highway Patrol to clear out homeless encampments.
“Under the Governor’s direction, State Troopers are offering homeless individuals two clear options,” the release read. “1. A ride to a treatment or housing facility. 2. A ride to jail and face prosecution if they refuse help and continue breaking the law.”
OHP already began enforcing the new plan Friday morning, clearing out encampments at various sites in Tulsa.
Malachi, a man in his early twenties, said he was sleeping at an encampment near the David L. Moss jail when he woke up to a gunshot. He came out of the tent to find his dog shot and several OHP officers walking through.
“I jump out the tent and I got to looking in the grass, like, ‘Where’s my dog?’” he said. “It was just a big splatter of blood.”
Malachi said he found his dog behind the tent.
In a statement, OHP confirmed an officer did shoot a dog during a sweep Friday morning.
“As [officers] approached a tent, they encountered an aggressive dog that suddenly lunged toward them,” OHP's statement read. “In response, the nearest trooper was forced to take immediate action, firing a single shot to stop the attack.”
The dog is being treated for her injuries at a local veterinarian.
“I’m lost,” Malachi said.
Elected officials and nonprofit leaders respond
Stitt’s announcement of the new encampments policy was followed by a swift rebuke from Mayor Nichols.
“Kevin Stitt has shown himself again to be an unserious person,” Nichols said in a statement. “I am not interested in being lectured by someone who has proven time and time again that he only cares to intervene to score political points.”
Stitt took direct aim at Mayor Monroe Nichols in his statement.
“This is the city’s job, but Mayor Nichols and Tulsa leadership haven’t met the level of action needed to keep neighborhoods safe.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma criticized the governor’s move.
“Being homeless is not a crime,” said Executive Director Tamya Cox-Touré in a statement. “Homelessness is a policy failure. Governor Stitt’s embrace of cruel and ineffective approaches to homelessness won’t solve this crisis.”
Tulsa-area nonprofits shared concerns about the plan, emphasizing different approaches to solving homelessness.
Beth Svetlic, chair of A Way Home for Tulsa, a coalition of nonprofits aiming to end homelessness in the city, said the number of unhoused people in need of services is growing.
“Our shelters are overfilled,” Svetlic said in a statement. “This is a complex issue, and it requires complex solutions that put people first, are trauma -informed, and proven effective.”
Mack Haltom, executive director of Tulsa Day Center, echoed that issue.
“The shelters are full,” Haltom said. “They’re full at night and there’s no other shelters available.”
Haltom said the governor’s new plan could lead to unintended consequences, such as moving unhoused people toward more private and city-owned property.
A search for solutions amid a growing anti-homeless trend
Oklahoma lawmakers passed and Gov. Stitt signed a bill in 2024 that criminalizes encampments on any state-owned property.
A number of bills have been introduced targeting unhoused people in the state.
While Haltom expressed sympathy with the need to remove pop-up camps, he said the approach should be different.
Haltom emphasized “decommissioning” camps rather than surprise removal.
“You go to the site and you let the folks know, that are unsheltered there, that are camping, that ‘Hey, we’re going to give you a deadline.’”
The difference in Haltom’s example is the presence of social services.
“We’re going to bring case management and services to you,” he said. “We want to work with you in trying to see what the barriers are to you being unhoused.”
Haltom suggested “ramping up” those aforementioned social services to place people on the path to long-term housing.
