OKPOLICY.ORG
Oklahoma Department of Public Safety Commissioner Tim Tipton announced that, beginning November 1st, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol will stop patrolling interstate highways in the Oklahoma City and Tulsa metro areas. According to Tipton, the change is intended to enhance statewide service. He also says many additional officers would be needed to continue maintaining patrols on metro interstates.
Judging from the backlash by police departments and legislators, one must wonder how effectively the plan was communicated before this decision was announced. Tipton said he spoke with some law enforcement agencies but did not consult any elected officials besides Gov. Kevin Stitt, who supported the plan.
Rep. Ross Ford, R-Broken Arrow and chair of the House Appropriations and Budget Public Safety Subcommittee, expressed displeasure with the Public Safety Commissioner’s abrupt announcement and pointed out that troopers patrolling these highways save Oklahomans’ lives. Ford said he’ll be working to get more information from DPS and review state statutes regarding the Patrol’s areas of responsibility and whether DPS has exceeded its authority in redistributing Patrol resources.
Meanwhile in the Senate, Sen. Mark Mann, D-Oklahoma City, has requested an attorney general’s opinion on the matter. Mann said, “Our local police departments are already overburdened and under-resourced. Shifting the responsibility of responding to incidents and accidents on interstate highways to local agencies will only exacerbate the serious challenges they already face.”
Title 74 O.S. ยง47-2-117 states:
“The officers of the Department (of Public Safety) shall have the following authority, responsibilities, powers and duties:
To investigate and report traffic collisions on all interstate and defense highways and on all highways outside of incorporated municipalities, and may investigate traffic collisions within any incorporated municipality upon request of the local law enforcement agency, and to secure testimony of witnesses or of persons involved.”
The statute goes on to say, “The Oklahoma Highway Patrol Division shall have primary law enforcement authority respecting traffic-related offenses upon the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, and may have special law enforcement authority on those portions of the federal-aid primary highways and the state highway system which are located within the boundaries and on the outskirts of a municipality, and designated by the Commissioner of Public Safety for such special law enforcement authority.”
The language of the law might leave room for legal arguments, creating another point of conflict between Gov. Stitt and Attorney General Gentner Drummond.
The new DPS policy toward Oklahoma municipalities under Gov. Stitt echoes President Trump’s federal approach to states: “You’re on your own.” At a news conference, Commissioner Tipton asked, “How big do you want to grow state government?” Paraphrasing Rep. Ford, one might answer, “Big enough to protect the Oklahoma public against increased incidences of driving under the influence and unattended collisions on interstate highways.”
