Tulsa police chief outlines youth-violence response, immigration policy and outreach plans

Tulsa Police Chief Dennis Larson told the Hispanic Affairs Commission that reducing shootings by younger people is the department’s top priority and outlined tactics the department uses to target the most violent individuals while protecting community members’ constitutional rights.

Larson said the department identifies “violent impact players” — people who drive shooting activity in small groups — and concentrates resources to remove them from the street. “Our SWICs have gone down 50% in the last 3 years,” Larson said, referring to shootings with intent to kill, and added that the reduction shows the department’s strategy is “doing the right things.”

Larson described the department’s immigration practice as longstanding and clear: “Basically, it says we won't use race, gender, national origin, status — legal or illegal — as a reason to stop.” He said the department does not check immigration status when responding to municipal calls and that officers and municipal court processes do not perform immigration screening.

Larson also addressed partnerships with federal agencies, saying local and federal agencies work together when violent offenders are involved. “When we go partner with our federal agencies, it's usually because they're gonna fight somebody that has demonstrated violent tendencies,” he said, noting Tulsa officers often bring tactical experience and equipment to such cases.

On overdoses, Larson described the department’s use of naloxone (Narcan) and growing challenges from designer drug mixes that can blunt naloxone’s effectiveness. “Narcan flips all those switches back on,” he said, adding that emerging mixtures make overdose work “a chess game” requiring cross‑agency effort.

Larson outlined recruitment and technology initiatives: Tulsa recruits bilingual officers with a monthly stipend and runs local outreach to grow police candidates from within Tulsa neighborhoods. He described testing of next‑generation body‑worn cameras that detect spoken language and produce near‑real‑time translations to help officers and non‑English speakers communicate at incidents.

Commissioners asked about demographic data and outreach. Larson said the department typically focuses crime‑data analysis on time and location rather than suspect demographics and that demographic breakdowns are not routinely published, though outside groups sometimes compile such data.

Larson closed by inviting commission members to connect the department with community events and youth programs, saying the department seeks to “grow our own police officers” from local families and schools.

The presentation was followed by a question-and-answer session with commissioners and public speakers about misinformation on social media, community policing presence, and how the department verifies neighborhood reports of criminal activity.