TULSA, Okla. — Tulsa city councilors voted 7-1 to approve an amended version of a downtown youth curfew ordinance on June 25 that quickly became a polarizing issue.
Councilors spent more than two hours discussing the logistics behind the proposed curfew for minors, including input in the public comment portion of the 5 p.m. meeting from business leaders and non-profit leaders.
WATCH: City Council passes (amended) downtown Tulsa youth curfew
Councilors Lori Decter Wright, Jackie Dutton and Vanessa Hall Harper raised the most concerns over the new rules.
“I don’t think it’s been thought out thoroughly and I definitely don’t have the data I would need to make an informed decision," said Dutton. "Districts 3, 6, 7 and 8 do not have community centers. We do not have resources for the youth to utilize and to expect that were going to focus all of this on downtown, to me is offensive."
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City council to vote on possible curfew for minors in downtown Tulsa
As amended, anyone under the age of 18 would not be allowed in the downtown IDL area after 9 p.m.. The curfew is not intended to keep young people from going to events or restaurants, but from loitering or gathering in large groups in places they shouldn't be, councilors said.
Although it may seem like a knee-jerk reaction to the Juneteenth shooting, councilors supporting the ordinance emphasized they had discussed the implementation of a curfew for months.
The goal of keeping the youth out of downtown is to eliminate the recent surge of gun violence erupting near and around downtown, Mayor Nichols said on June 23, most of which have had young shooters and victims.
- Previous coverage>>> City council to vote on possible curfew for minors in downtown Tulsa
Tulsa leaders said they are borrowing this approach from an Oklahoma City neighborhood.
“I appreciate that Bricktown has implemented this in Oklahoma City and it seems to have worked for their needs," Councilor Decter Wright said. "What I cannot find is what it has done to the nearby neighborhoods of Brick Town or beyond.”
Hall Harper raised questions over the accountability of enforcing the curfew, and how they would ensure all youth would be treated equally by Tulsa police.
“As elected officials, we have to do something, but this is just a first step," the District 1 councilor said. "I agree that something needs to happen, that we are in a critical state, but I also have this concern over here about officer discretion and how they’re actually going to be implementing or enforcing that law.”
WATCH: City councilors flesh out how curfew for minors would be upheld
Hall Harper said all the interactions would be captured on body camera video, and would review all of those recordings if any concerns were raised.
Brian Kurtz with Downtown Tulsa Partnership was also apart of the conversation, representing some of the perspective of the businesses that have been impacted.
He urged the councilors to take action immediately, because, as Kurtz said, the violence is unfolding each weekend.
“I will say when my children find themselves in dangerous situations, my first reaction is to remove them from that situation," said Kurtz. "What we are attempting to do on a community basis is remove individuals who are finding themselves in extremely dangerous scenarios with illegal weapons, with contraband, with drug use, in or near establishments that are around the consumption of alcohol in a means to protect themselves and the thousands of people who work live and visit downtown each and every day.”
WATCH: Downtown Tulsan says city can’t rely on curfew to curb gun violence
Representing TPD's voice at the table was Deputy Chief Mark Wollmerhauser.
Because many of the recent incidents have been among large crowds, he said limiting the places young people can gather will help officers respond to emergencies and thus keep people safer.
“If you have ten juveniles, if we can get seven of them out of that environment earlier in the day, earlier in the night, now we’ve definitely protected those seven and we can focus on the three that we’re going to have to take more of an enforcement approach with," he said.
During public comments McNellie's Group CEO Elliot Nelson emphatically called for a curfew.
"We know this is not the final piece, but we have to take action," Nelson said. "We have to take action quick, because the longer we delay action, the longer we wait to find the perfect answer, the more issues that we're going to have."
Executive director of Padres Unidos de Tulsa Michelle Lara, then took the podium to argue against a curfew.
"This proposed curfew unfairly targets (youth). And honestly, it's distracting from the real issue here," Lara told the council. "We demand immediate implementation of gun buyback programs to remove dangerous weapons from our streets (and) a significant investment in teen-focused programming that provides engaging, safe, and productive opportunities for children."
Another large piece of the discussion was how long to keep the curfew in place.
Decter Wright, who cited concerns from Councilor Laura Bellis and outright opposition from Youth Services of Tulsa, motioned to reduce the "sunset" of the curfew to October 22 of this year, instead of the initial March 31 end date. The councilor's motion included also reducing the curfew from seven nights a week to just Thursday through Saturday nights.
The final vote passed 7-1, with only Councilor Jackie Dutton dissenting.
"I don't have enough data about 'Move out of downtown' (suggestion of youth gatherings)," Dutton said prior to the vote. "Move out of downtown where? So, I'm a hard no."
Council vice-chair Karen Gilbert summed up the position of the majority of the council.
"This is not an end-all, 'right here, right now' tonight," Gilbert said. "This is a continuous conversation that all of us - all of us – need to have. We cannot ignore it anymore."
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