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Police report: Safe Hotels initiative shows large drop in applicable calls, some hotels reinvesting
Summary
Broken Arrow police reported that the Safe Hotels initiative has cut applicable police calls at city hotels from several high rates to only two hotels above the city’s target, and that multiple hotels have begun renovations and increased cooperation with law enforcement.
Chief Lance Arnold updated the City Council on the Safe Hotels initiative on June 3, reporting a significant decline in applicable police calls for service at hotel properties since the program began.
Arnold said the city’s assessment removes non‑police nexus calls (for example, medical emergencies) and divides applicable calls by the number of rooms at each hotel to produce a per‑room ratio. The city’s target ratio is 0.6 applicable police calls per room per year. Using a pre‑initiative reference year, eight of 14 hotels exceeded that 0.6 benchmark and five exceeded a ratio of 1.0; the highest was 4.1 at one property.
In the most recent full year of data, Arnold said only two of 14 hotels were above the 0.6 target, with the highest at 0.7 — a hotel that had dropped from 4.1 to 0.7. He told the council the hotel’s ownership and management are cooperating fully with patrol and special investigations, providing registries and other support when requested.
Arnold said the initiative coincided with at least four hotels undertaking renovations in the last two years and two additional hotels planning a combined $1.2 million renovation and rebranding; two separately incorporated properties that share an address will operate as a single Ramada after the work. One new manager brought in from outside the region also has cooperated closely with law enforcement, Arnold said.
City staff acknowledged operational friction: fire and code enforcement reported repeated reinspections to obtain compliance, while some hoteliers said they were not always informed. Arnold said TED team staff member Mikaela Barton has streamlined scheduling and notifications so hoteliers can plan for life‑safety inspections and have appropriate representatives available. He credited multiple departments — patrol, special investigations, licensing and permitting, code enforcement and fire — with contributing to the initiative’s results.
Councilors praised the reported reductions. Arnold and other officers said the initiative’s effect may also reduce community‑wide calls if individuals responsible for incidents are not present at hotels. No regulatory penalties or revocations were announced at the meeting; staff characterized the effort as enforcement combined with cooperation and property reinvestment.
