TULSA, Okla. — Reducing violent crime has been the priority of Tulsa Police Chief Dennis Larsen since he was appointed one year ago.
“I’d ask you to join me in welcoming Tulsa’s next Chief of Police, Dennis Larsen,” said former Tulsa Mayor G-T Bynum.
WATCH: Reducing violent crime focus of Tulsa Police Chief’s 1-year mark in office
On May 24, 2024, with then-Mayor G-T Bynum on his right and then-Chief Wendell Franklin on his left, the 45-year Tulsa Police Department veteran took the reins of this department.
“I had no idea at the beginning of 2024 that I’d be sitting in this office, in this seat, and be responsible for the well-being of over 1000 police department employees, and that’s a part of my job that weighs heavy on my heart every day,” said Police Chief Dennis Larsen.
2 News talked exclusively with the Chief about his priorities over the last year. In May of 2024, he laid out his goal.
“That’s going to be a main focus in my next year. We’re doing great in solving homicides now, let’s work on preventing them,” said Chief Larsen in May 2024.
New numbers from the department show a decrease in major crimes across the board.
“If you look at our crime numbers, we have gone down in not only every property crime, but we’ve gone down in every violent crime from robbery to homicide to sexual assault,” said Chief Larsen.
Chief Larsen said the homicide numbers, from 71 in 2021 to 55 completely solved cases in 2024, highlight this trend.
“That unit’s running like a fine watch,” said Chief Larsen. “It doesn’t miss a tick. It just keeps on smooth. They are just a group of brilliant detectives.”
Chief Larsen points to good police work and technology in reducing these numbers.
“We don’t do as good a job as we’ve been doing without leveraging technology,” said Chief Larsen. “Our officers, when they graduate the academy up to the most senior officers have more technology in their hand than ever before.”
“What challenges have you seen over the last year,” asked 2 News’ Naomi Keitt?
“The challenges are mainly that recruiting and getting our numbers up,” answered Chief Larsen.
“We know we need to grow our department from the low 800’s up to above that 900 and then watch what we can do.”
Hope is on the horizon, with the first full academy since the pandemic at 30 recruits this upcoming September.
“Every seat will be full,” said Chief Larsen. “That’s a game changer for us.”
Chief Larsen says as he helms the department that’s been his work home for decades, the priority is make sure Tulsans have the safest city.
“Our passion is them having the safest place to raise their children to go out and have a great time whether it’s a run, whether it’s Mayfest, whether it’s a Christmas time or it’s Gathering Place that there will be a Tulsa Police officer to make sure they’re safe,” said Chief Larsen.
WATCH: Full interview with Tulsa Police Chief on reducing violent crime
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