The violence and challenges our police - and many neighborhood residents - face today: A Mayor rides a mile in their car
A worthwhile read. This news article opens with: “Before the mayor even knew what was going on, the officers had hopped outside the car. A man in a Tulsa neighborhood had taken off in a sprint as soon as he saw the unmarked police car roll around a corner, and the officers were quick to give chase, hopping over four fence lines before apprehending the man.
“This guy was running with an illegal firearm with a laser sight on top of it,” Mayor G.T. Bynum recounted. “And that was just the car I was riding with. “I believe they got eight illegal firearms that night.”
Police Chief Wendell Franklin described the level of violence as something more intense and different from what they have ever seen in terms of the number of rounds being fired indiscriminately on the street. He describes a homicide scene in which 100 fired cartridge cases were recovered.
The article describes the evidence and intelligence-led tactics the department is using to respond – such as ATF’s NIBIN ballistics network to help connect crimes, guns, and suspects.
It also describes some of the setbacks and challenges the department faced – like a cyber-attack that delayed access to their police reporting systems and backups in the court dockets due to Covid19.
To all involved in these efforts – thanks for the work that you do!
. . . and thank you, Mayor – for riding a mile in their car!
