Tulsa police chief to retire as department plans new downtown patrol division
Tulsa Police Chief Dennis Larsen is retiring after nearly five decades of service, the City of Tulsa announced July 20.
The announcement comes as the Tulsa Police Department plans a fourth patrol division focused on downtown Tulsa and adjacent areas. The division is expected to begin operating at the end of August, according to a March report from the Tulsa Regional Chamber.
The available announcements do not identify Larsen’s retirement date or a successor. They also do not establish a final staffing level, budget or exact boundaries for the planned division.
A planned fourth patrol division
The proposed downtown-focused unit would be the department’s fourth patrol division and its first new division in more than 35 years, according to the Chamber report.
The Chamber said the planned deployment is intended for downtown and adjacent areas. The division had not begun operations in the information released by the Chamber; it was described as expected to start at the end of August.
The department’s plan followed concerns raised by downtown residents, Chamber leaders and business owners about police presence, the Chamber reported. Those concerns were cited as part of the background for establishing the additional division.
Downtown growth cited as context
The Chamber described the patrol-division plan against a backdrop of development in downtown Tulsa. It reported nearly $2 billion in downtown investment and nearly 3,000 residential units built since 2008.
Those figures were reported by the Tulsa Regional Chamber, not by the city announcement concerning Larsen’s retirement.
The anticipated division would concentrate police deployment in an area that includes downtown and nearby neighborhoods, rather than representing a departmentwide patrol expansion described in the available information.
What remains unknown
The City of Tulsa’s July 20 announcement confirmed Larsen’s planned retirement and said he had served for nearly five decades. It did not name an incoming chief or state when Larsen will leave the post.
For the patrol division, the next stated milestone is the expected start of operations at the end of August. The available reports do not specify the division’s final footprint, funding or staffing.
Together, the leadership transition and the planned downtown deployment mark separate developments for the police department: one involving its chief and the other involving a proposed new patrol structure for downtown Tulsa and adjacent areas.
Sources
- Tulsa Police Chief Dennis Larsen to Retire After Nearly Five Decades of Service, City of Tulsa
- Tulsa Police Department to establish fourth patrol division, Tulsa Regional Chamber
Look for updates to this story
Discover more from Interactive News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.