TULSA, Okla. — In his sharpest rebuke yet of Governor Kevin Stitt’s intervention in Tulsa’s homelessness crisis, Mayor Monroe Nichols said the governor’s “Operation SAFE” has displaced vulnerable residents, stripped them of IDs and belongings, and created a “manufactured crisis” that undermines public safety.
Speaking from City Hall on Monday, Nichols reiterated Tulsa’s long-term commitment to reaching “functional zero” homelessness by 2030. He highlighted local initiatives such as the Safe Move program and a planned $35 million investment in affordable housing, while criticizing the governor’s decision to deploy the Oklahoma Highway Patrol (OHP) to clear encampments without coordination with the City of Tulsa.
Mayor: Tulsa Has a Plan, State Has Politics
Nichols emphasized that Tulsa’s strategy is rooted in evidence-based practices: increasing shelter capacity, investing in affordable housing, decommissioning encampments responsibly, and mitigating evictions. He noted Tulsa’s ambitious goal of adding 6,000 affordable units by 2028.
“We’ve spent years removing encampments in responsible ways,” Nichols said. “We do it with law enforcement, fire, mental health providers, and housing advocates to make sure people are connected to services—not just told to move along.”
By contrast, Nichols said Stitt’s sudden encampment sweeps left residents without notice or support. “What I heard was folks given 24 hours’ notice. That is not the case. What I heard was OHP would transport people to services. That is not the case,” Nichols said.
“Instead, people have lost IDs and documents, making it even harder to house them,” he added
Homelessness Numbers and Accountability
Before Nichols took office last December, homelessness in Tulsa grew by 23%. Under his administration, the increase slowed to 4%—mirroring a plateau seen nationwide.
“The governor says my policies won’t keep up,” Nichols said. “But before December 2, 2024, they weren’t my policies. Homelessness got worse while he was governor. I won’t say it’s my fault, but it is my responsibility—and I hold myself accountable to ending homelessness by 2030.”
Nichols dismissed the governor’s claims that Tulsa is uniquely failing, pointing to national models such as Utah, where Republican leadership invested tens of millions to tackle homelessness at its roots. A Tulsa Regional Chamber delegation is scheduled to visit Salt Lake City to learn from its success.
Steps Taken Under the Nichols Administration
Since taking office, the Monroe Nichols administration has outlined concrete actions to move Tulsa toward “functional zero” homelessness by 2030. Among them:
- Responsible Encampment Closures: Implemented a coordinated decommissioning policy across city departments to permanently close sites while ensuring residents are connected to housing and services, following national best practices.
- Emergency Shelter Expansion: Helped open two emergency shelters in January and February, providing space for more than 1,400 individuals. Coordinated rescues and referrals between outreach teams and first responders.
- Daytime Resource Center: Established a downtown emergency day location offering shade, water, bathrooms, and access to housing and mental health services. In partnership with Metro Link Tulsa, the site has provided 1,200 rides since June 26.
- Alternative Response Teams: Expanded ART-2 to focus on downtown needs and embedded COPES mental health professionals in both ART-1 and ART-2 teams.
- Safe Move Tulsa Investment: Reallocated $6 million to Safe Move Tulsa, creating individualized housing plans and rapid rehousing assistance for 300 individuals and families.
- Coordinated Response: Strengthened collaboration among law enforcement, outreach teams, first responders, and mental health providers to ensure consistent, service-focused interventions.
Focusing on Human Impact and Safety Concerns
Nichols warned that Operation SAFE has increased strain on downtown services and hospitals while damaging trust between unhoused residents and local law enforcement.
“Displacing people suddenly puts them into crisis mode in the city’s core, where services are already over capacity,” Nichols said. “This isn’t sustainable. It’s creating danger, not solving it.”
He added that no one cleared by OHP has been taken to jail, undercutting the governor’s framing of encampments as a criminal issue. “These aren’t hardened criminals,” Nichols said. “These are people struggling to get by.”
Tulsa’s Police Chief and Sheriff Call for Treatment, Not Sweeps
Tulsa Police Chief Dennis Larsen underscored the department’s commitment to a collaborative, service-oriented approach. “Targeted law enforcement is not the cure,” he said.
“Our officers receive extensive training in de-escalation and in connecting unhoused residents with resources. Through partnerships with the Mental Health Association, Family & Children’s Services, and Tulsa Fire’s Alternative Response Team, we’ve proven that a multi-faceted approach works,” Chief Larsen adds.
In just the past five months, COPES professionals embedded in the city’s 911 Dispatch Center handled more than 3,000 calls—freeing up over 3,000 police officers, 777 firefighters, and 658 EMSA units to respond to other emergencies. “Our community must come together to address homelessness in a holistic manner,” Larsen added.
Tulsa County Sheriff Vic Regalado also cautioned against relying on arrests to address homelessness.
“We can’t incarcerate ourselves out of homelessness,” he said, noting the jail is already near capacity. Sweeps and arrests, Regalado added, simply cycle people back onto the streets without treatment.
“We’ve dropped the ball on mental health. Until we put treatment first and build the facilities to support it, we’re going to continue spinning the wheel on this issue.”
Lack of Transparency in State Enforcement
While Tulsa police and sheriff’s deputies emphasized de-escalation and treatment-focused approaches, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol operates differently. OHP troopers are not required to wear body cameras, and only a fraction of the 743 troopers currently use them. Instead, the agency relies primarily on dash cameras installed in patrol vehicles.
Critics argue this lack of body-worn cameras reduces transparency and accountability, particularly during sweeps of homeless encampments. Without body cams, it becomes more difficult to document interactions with vulnerable residents or verify whether troopers followed proper procedures.
Nichols Calls for Partnership, Not Politics
Nichols said he asked Stitt weeks ago to expand shelter capacity and explore state housing investments in Tulsa and OKC. Instead, he received a press release.
“Had the governor reached out, we could have done this responsibly, in coordination,” Nichols said. “Instead, we have chaos.”
The mayor urged Tulsans to stay united behind the city’s long-term housing goals. “Progress doesn’t look like Twitter videos,” Nichols said. “Progress looks like 300 people moving from the streets into housing in the next 12 months, and we are still committed to that.”
Despite his frustration, Nichols ended on a note of resolve: “These are Tulsa problems, and thus must be solved by Tulsans. No matter what comes from the governor’s office, we are not slowing down.”
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