Assessing Safety, Crime, and Incarceration in Oklahoma

Maintaining public safety is government’s core responsibility. Government became necessary as soon as more than a few people lived in the same area and one broke the rules. Ancient city and state governments were created to protect their citizens from outside threats and from each other. In the United States, local governments began providing police and jails in the colonial era. Not long after, many added fire service. State public safety services grew as prison populations exceeded the capacity of town and county jails, as mobility increased, and as we desired more uniform systems of justice. Government remains the only institution with the mission of ensuring that all families, neighborhoods and communities are protected from threats to their physical safety.

Oklahoma has made substantial progress in public safety.

We have successfully invested in drug courts and better control of methamphetamine ingredients to control some drug crimes. However, Oklahoma crime rates are higher than the national average in spite of very high rates of imprisonment. Our prisons are overcrowded, understaffed, and in physical disrepair. Oklahomans are much more likely to die in traffic accidents or fires than the average American. And, like all of the United States, our public safety systems provide unequal and harsher treatment to people of color.

Here are some indicators that offer a snapshot of where public safety in Oklahoma stands today.

Safety

U.S. Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Fire Administration

Oklahoma’s highway deaths per 100 million vehicle miles have fallen from 1.71 to 1.44 since 2005. However, deaths have fallen more rapidly in other states, and Oklahoma’s ranking nationally has fallen from 37^th to 44^th in that time.  Oklahoma’s rate was higher than the national rate of 1.13. Speeding and alcohol accounted for 22 percent each of Oklahoma traffic deaths.

Oklahoma ranks 37^th in fire deaths among the states and District of Columbia, according to the US Fire Administration. The 2013 death rate of 15.8 per million people was above the national rate of 11.2. However, Oklahoma’s fire death rate has been cut nearly in half since 2005, and the state has moved up from 44^th to 37^th safest in that time.

Crime and Incarceration

Incarceration per 100,0000 people by Race/Ethnicity (2014)

Source: U.S. Department of Justice, The Vera Institute, The Sentencing Project, U.S. Fire Administration, Federal Highway Administration

Oklahoma’s violent crime rate has declined modestly since 2007, as has the state’s national ranking, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. However, Oklahoma’s rate exceeded the regional rate of 441 in 2016, the first time this has occurred.

Property crime in Oklahoma has fallen from 3,526 to 2,875 per 100,000 residents since 2007. However, the state’s national ranking declined from 38^th to 45^th.

In 2016, Oklahoma ranked 49th in incarcerated persons per 100,000 populations at 708. The national rate is 397. The rate was for 1,260 for male and 155 for females, by far the highest in the nation. Oklahoma has ranked among the four states with the highest incarceration rates consistently over the last decade. In fact, Oklahoma has the highest incarceration rates for both whites and blacks, according to a study of 2014 data by The Sentencing Project. Black individuals, however, were 4.5 times more likely to be incarcerated than whites, while Hispanics were slightly less likely to be incarcerated than whites.

‹‹ Go back to Health and Social Services Agencies and Services | Go on to Public Safety Agencies and Services ››