TULSA, Okla. — A measure to reduce stolen shopping carts has mixed reactions, especially from those who try to help the homeless community.
Tulsa Police Department confirmed to 2 News it shared an initiative with downtown stakeholders that would treat shopping carts found off property as stolen merchandise and issue fines against those responsible. Officers could also choose to confiscate the cart.
TPD shared a statement with 2 News Nov. 26:
“While the Tulsa Police Department realizes that we will encounter unhoused individuals in possession of these shopping carts, the intent of the Shopping Cart Letter is not to address their housing status. These carts can range from hundreds to even thousands of dollars and their theft represents a significant financial loss for businesses. We want to return this property back to the rightful owners and we will take necessary enforcement actions in doing so regardless of the suspect’s housing status.”
Jesus Trejo Perez, or Don Jesus as colleagues know him, heads produce sales at Supermercados Las Americas' biggest location, on East Admiral. The grocery store also touches I-244, where numerous homeless encampments are found with shopping carts.
"In three months, we've gotten about 150 new shopping carts," Perez said. "They're expensive. But during these spans, we find carts stolen time after time after time."
Tulsa Day Center CEO Mack Haltom said he's trying to get more information about TPD's approach but opposes what he said could lead to criminalized homelessness.
"By citing an individual that's already kind of down, it's just going to complicate things more," Haltom said. "Plus, what happens to their belongings then? I'm not sure if they have figured out if they would just dump the belongings on the street and then leave them there, or how that cleanup takes place."
"And it kind of puts them into the court system, and if they don't show up for them, they can put out a warrant, and they end up in jail," he added. "Oftentimes, that's what happens with those kinds of citations."
Haltom also said he's yet to meet with Mayor-elect Monroe Nichols since he won the election, but is encouraged by his eagerness to fix homelessness.
Whatever options come to Tulsa's homeless, Perez only shops for results.
"I couldn't tell you the exact details or solutions. That's really for our owner to decide," Perez said. "But what I can say is the carts keep getting stolen."
City of Tulsa announced a pilot program after the airing of this story to help reduce abandoned shopping carts throughout the city.
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