OKPOLICY.ORG
Gov. Stitt wants Oklahomans to believe a police escort and a bulldozer can solve homelessness. Last week, he ordered the Oklahoma Highway Patrol to sweep homeless encampments from state land in Tulsa, offering people two options: a shelter bed or a jail cell.
On paper, it might look like action. In reality, it’s governance by wrecking ball. The spectacle played well for some folks on social media, but ignored the human cost and the deeper failures driving Oklahoma’s rising homelessness crisis.
Over the last few days, troopers dismantled tents, destroyed what little people had, and in some cases even shot their dog. Watching those images unfold on the news and the governor’s social media feed — cheered on by gleeful online comments — you’d think Oklahoma had won something.
What we mistook for problem-solving was, in fact, cruelty.
The real problem is not the tents or debris. It’s not even mental illness or addiction, though both weigh heavy on many unhoused people.
At its core, the problem is housing: Oklahoma lacks enough safe, affordable homes to meet demand. Homelessness is complex, but every credible expert begins with the same premise — people cannot heal, work, or stabilize without a roof overhead.
That’s why the “Housing First” model succeeds: it provides safe, permanent housing as the first step. Time and again, it’s been proven to reduce homelessness while saving taxpayer dollars in the long run.
Gov. Stitt had every opportunity to hear this advice. For nearly two decades, the Governor’s Interagency Council on Homelessness united state leaders, service providers, and experts to craft long-term solutions.
But in 2023, Stitt dissolved the council, declaring its work finished. Homelessness, of course, was not. Former members had to reconstitute a private council on their own.
Their absence was clear in the governor’s unilateral order, which blindsided law enforcement, service providers, and medical professionals — the very people left to absorb the fallout. They have been overwhelmed ever since.
Tulsa County Sheriff Vic Regalado put it bluntly: “We can’t incarcerate ourselves out of homelessness.” His jail is already near capacity, and funneling people through it leads to no treatment, no housing, no stability — only more trauma and drained law enforcement resources that could have been put to better use.
Meanwhile, our state has slashed the very services that prevent and address homelessness. The Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services alone has lost more than $40 million in funding.
Mental health treatment beds and substance-use services remain scarce. Affordable housing construction and smart land-use policies lag far behind demand.
When people are forcibly displaced, they often lose critical documents — driver’s licenses, Social Security cards, birth certificates, and more. Without these records, another barrier rises: no job, no assistance.
Even the irreplaceable — sentimental photos, a family Bible, a loved one’s ashes — can be destroyed without a second thought. The message is unmistakable: if you are poor enough to lose your home, the state will take your dignity with it.
The governor claims these sweeps will make our communities safer. But what safety is achieved by pushing people from one patch of land to the next? What security is built when families lose their last keepsakes? True safety begins when Oklahomans have homes, treatment, and support.
When Gov. Stitt later suggested people without homes would “move on to Portland or Los Angeles or San Francisco,” the message was plain: Oklahomans without housing don’t truly belong here. That’s simply not true.
Being an Oklahoman is not reserved for those with privilege or steady paychecks. Our neighbors who struggle with housing are still our neighbors — and they deserve the same dignity and rights as anyone else.
If you are entrusted with leading this state, you are obligated to lead for all its people — including those without a permanent home. You cannot shove problems across state lines and call them solved.
No one is denying that encampments and homelessness are real concerns. But they are not confined to Tulsa. In OK Policy’s listening sessions around the state, we heard loud and clear: homelessness and its root causes impact every community in Oklahoma.
If the governor wants a real victory, he must partner with lawmakers on a long-term plan — one that invests in safe, affordable housing, restores mental health funding, lifts Oklahomans out of poverty, and rebuilds genuine collaboration between government bodies and community members ready to do the work.
Oklahomans must demand these investments and insist that compassion — not cruelty — is the only path forward. Contact your state and local elected officials. Show up at community meetings. Press for dignity and real solutions. The time to act is now. Oklahoma’s future will be defined not by the rubble we create, but by the homes and hope we choose to build.
