TULSA, Okla. — Last week, 2 News Oklahoma spoke with a north Tulsa crossing guard who preferred to remain anonymous but wants to speak out on speeding drivers and unsafe work conditions in school zones.
Local News
Crossing guard pushing for safer environment in Tulsa school zones
She said she’s seen speeding drivers like these at several schools, including Springdale Elementary, Elliot Elementary, and Marshall Elementary.
“It’s just like we’re left out for the wolves and to defend ourselves and the parents and the kids," she said. “I want to see something being done, like a harder fine or something for the drivers who are speeding. At least we need a whistle or, like the horn, we can blow to let them know, or the police. We need police out there.”
Captain Meulenberg with the Tulsa Police Department said there are many school zones that many people don't even realize exist, so it's hard to allocate resources to every area.
“We also have lots of other issues in the city that we're dealing with at the same time, but safety is a priority, so we're going to allocate the resources necessary to keep these safe," he said. "But also, it's impossible to think, in a city with 430,000 people, that we can be everywhere, all the time, all at once.”
Still, Captain Meulenberg said this is all a partnership between residents in Tulsa and the police department to identify areas that need help.
"Our traffic units in the divisions, they handle a lot of the complaints," he said. "While they will kind of go out and proactively find areas, school zones or otherwise, that seem to need more attention, we also rely heavily on information we get from the public.”
Captain Meulenberg said the easiest way to contact the police department is to call the non-emergency number at (918) 596-9222.
"We also recommend getting to know what division you live in, which is all available on our website," said Meulenberg. "Go to our website at tulsapolice.org, and you can see who the division commander is. There, you can see the captains are, and you can reach out to them directly if you have an issue."
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere --
- 2 News Oklahoma on your schedule | Download on your TV, watch for free. How to watch on your streaming device
- Download our free app for Apple, Android and Kindle devices.
- Like us on Facebook
- Follow us on Instagram
- Watch LIVE 24/7 on YouTube
