TULSA, Okla. — Big changes are coming to Tulsa later this year after the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety announced that, starting Nov. 1, Oklahoma Highway Patrol will be reallocating resources out of Tulsa and Oklahoma City, with a focus on rural areas.
"If you're in a collision on the interstates, you'll still call 911, and Tulsa Police will respond to those areas instead," TPD Captain Richard Meulenberg said when asked about the changes.
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OHP to reallocate resources away from Tulsa, OKC starting Nov. 1
When Nov. 1 gets here, it'll be TPD responding to collisions and incidents on interstates like I-44, I-244 and the IDL, all previously worked by OHP.
"What it means for motorists is practically nothing," Meulenberg said. "Citizens are not going to see any difference, you're just going to have a different person working your collision on the highway."
That may be true for Tulsa residents. But for TPD, already short-staffed, it means a higher workload.
"We're trying to get some data from them right now to determine how big of a load it'll add to our existing officers," Meulenberg said. "So, is it going to be burdensome? Well, sure, because we're taking on a responsibility that we didn't have before, but we're able to do this."
WATCH: Tulsa police preparing for Oklahoma Highway Patrol changes
Meulenberg is confident that response time won't change but says some calls might get bumped in priority.
"You'll still get call response, but everything is prioritized. A non-injury collision on the highway gets deprioritized to something in progress," Meulenberg said. "You know, an assault and battery in progress, a shooting or something like that. So you might wait, then something else comes in. It's not as if you're just waiting in line, and you're next up."
Meulenberg says that once November 1 gets here, residents should still do what they do now. If you get in an injury accident, call 911. If it's a non-injury collision, call the non-emergency number at 918-596-9222.
We reached out to DPS, who declined to comment further on the changes. We also reached out to OHP, but didn't hear back.
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