Politicians and law enforcement leaders in Tulsa and the Oklahoma City metro area have expressed irritation about Commissioner of Public Safety Tim Tipton’s decision to transfer “primary call responsibility” on traffic incidents to local law enforcement agencies, but the Department of Public Safety leader says shifting Highway Patrol troopers to ensure 24/7 coverage across the rest of Oklahoma’s interstate system will address a long-time problem exacerbated by increasing traffic.
“I have to take a statewide holistic approach to public safety and look at it in the totality,” Tipton said in an interview. “If you look at the law enforcement coverage in the Oklahoma City metro area — between Edmond and Moore and Norman and Midwest City and Del City and the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office and all of the other agencies that incorporate inside that area — there are hundreds of police officers that are out and active 24/7. But if you leave the metro area, and our state is not covered like that. It doesn’t have that density of law enforcement coverage outside of the Oklahoma City and Tulsa metro area.
“Due to this volume of calls and our lack of responsiveness, I’ve made the decision to reallocate our resources and personnel. We’re going to have 24/7 coverage on the interstate system outside of the metro areas.”
Tipton, the state’s commissioner of public safety since 2021 and a DPS employee since 1988, announced the change — effective Nov. 1 — in a July 3 press release. Following criticism from some metro-area leaders, Tipton defended his decision in a July 17 press conference, describing the response delays that plague most of I-35 and I-40 because OHP has not been able to staff troopers for an 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift. Instead, troopers in rural areas are only on call, meaning they are delayed in responding to incidents and they sometimes miss their scheduled shift after responding to a lengthy midnight call.
“[Troopers have to] get up, get dressed, drive from wherever they live — out in the two or three counties away from Interstate 35 — to respond to that call,” Tipton said. “It is not a timely response when these collisions happen. When you break down on the side of the road, when there’s a road-rage incident, there’s no law enforcement out at that time of the night, and it’s critical for us to provide a public safety footprint that gives those citizens and traveling motorists through our state the ability to know that there’s going to be a response in a timely manner to their incident on the interstate system.”
‘I know it’s going to be a burden on some of the local agencies’
The Department of Public Safety’s announcement that it will relocate troopers from the OKC metro and from within Tulsa city limits was met with criticism from several impacted metro police chiefs. Loyd Berger, the Del City police chief, told KOCO the decision blindsided him and that his department is unprepared for the change. Oklahoma City Police Chief Ron Bacy also told the TV station he was shocked by the announcement, but he said his department would determine its next steps after the OHP’s plan is reviewed by city attorneys.
Sarah Schettler, a spokesperson for the Norman Police Department, said in a statement that the agency is evaluating the impact of assuming primary call response on I-35 through Norman, but she expects the change to impair local response times. Shettler also emphasized that OHP responds to a range of calls extending beyond collisions.
“Redirecting personnel to cover the interstate will inevitably impact staffing levels and our ability to respond to other calls for service throughout the city,” Shettler said. “While current data emphasizes the number of collisions along this corridor, it does not fully capture the broader range of incidents that require police response — such as road rage, motorist assists, traffic hazards, criminal activity and debris removal. The scope of work extends far beyond traffic collisions alone.”
In addition to increased responsibilities, she said NPD will also have to assume proactive enforcement duties along I-35 through Norman to help prevent future collisions and losses of life, although writing tickets on the highway has been known to serve as a revenue stream for municipalities.
Geographically, Oklahoma City has one of the largest footprints in the U.S. by square mileage. According to Tipton, OKC has 107 miles of interstate highway affected by the OHP change. Edmond has eight miles, Norman has seven, Moore has five and Del City and Midwest City both have three.
The Oklahoma Policy Institute, a think tank that promotes the funding of public services, also criticized the Highway Patrol for its announcement. In an Instagram post, OPI highlighted the population of OKC and Tulsa metros and questioned what is at stake.
“This isn’t just a resource shift — it’s a decision with serious public safety and legal implications,” the post said.
Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt said the city’s police department will struggle to fill in for the highway patrol.
“We are not prepared for this,” Holt told KFOR. “This is not something that the Oklahoma City Police Department can do. So, now we are very much going to be making that known. I think it’s a decision that absolutely has to be reversed, and it’s very likely that it’s not even legal.”
Despite acknowledging the OHP reallocation’s drawbacks, Tipton reinforced support for the plan.
“I know it’s going to be a burden on some of the local agencies,” Tipton said in an interview. “But by not having to cover the interstate systems in those areas where there’s already a dense population of law enforcement that are covering 24/7, it’s going to allow for us to [have a] better statewide public safety footprint, availability and reliability by moving to this new model.”
Tipton also said he believes local agencies can handle the added duties. He specifically referenced Berger’s comments about concerns in Del City, citing OHP data showing less than one crash per week along Del City’s three miles of I-40.
“I knew it would be controversial, especially for those agencies that it’s going to affect, and I respect that. I hate it. It’s nothing against them,” Tipton said. “I’m not saying it’s not a burden on them, but it’s not something like 24 hours a day that they’re going to deal with. They may have a different perspective, but I don’t think it’s something they can’t cover.”
At his press conference, Tipton said “thousands of police officers” could respond to primary calls in OKC and Tulsa without OHP involvement, and he said OHP’s Size & Weight Division — Troop S — will still respond to any injury accident involving a commercial vehicle. He said local law enforcement will still be able to request OHP assistance with metro-area calls.
“You get out in western Oklahoma and the resources are very limited,” Tipton said of the current situation. “So now, if I have to pull that county trooper, send him home because he’s already worked his shift, now I’m leaving everybody in jeopardy. So it’s not just the interstate — it affects the county calls as well as the interstate calls.”
OHP to create ‘interstate troop,’ redraw existing patrol areas
According to Tipton, the Nov. 1 patrol reallocation will allow troopers to constantly monitor interstate traffic while covering less than 30 miles of highway during their shifts. He said no trooper will have to move if their coverage area changes, including those in OKC and Tulsa metros.
Under state statute, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol is the only law enforcement agency that has jurisdiction to patrol turnpikes across the state. Thus, Tipton said 75 assigned OHP troopers will continue to patrol turnpikes — even in the OKC metro — including the H.E. Bailey, Turner and Will Rogers turnpikes, which comprise the vast majority of Interstate 44’s route through Oklahoma.
Tipton said OHP will shift the boundaries of the current 13 field troops and create a new “interstate troop” headquartered in OKC. The new I-35 and I-40 patrol boundaries will specify that:
- On Interstate 35, patrols will begin north of the Logan County and Oklahoma County border near Waterloo Road and extend north through the Kansas border. OHP will also cover I-35 south of Norman near State Highway 9 down to the Texas border; and
- Troopers will patrol Interstate 40 west of the Oklahoma County and Canadian County border near Morgan Road. They will also handle primary calls east of OKC limits near Peebly Road out to the Arkansas border.
Sgt. Anthony Gibbs has worked at the Guthrie Police Department for 22 years. He said the added OHP support in places like Logan County will benefit his community and others, although he acknowledged that metro departments could struggle to adapt to the shift.
“People think just because there’s a larger agency, like OKC or Tulsa, that they can handle it,” Gibbs said. “But it’s a huge change that’s going to create manpower issues. There’s never enough time to make this kind of transition. When it happens, they’re going to feel the loss.”
Gibbs added that he thinks the changes to the OHP’s service areas will strengthen public safety by deterring crime and improving response times in rural areas.
“The troop is going to do nothing but enhance our ability to serve our citizens,” Gibbs said. “Whether it’s a collision, an active attack or just a call where they happen to be the closest unit, the more law enforcement on the road and in the county, the better our chances of getting where we’re needed quickly.”
Gibbs said the restructured highway patrol presence could ease delays in responding to complex or fatal incidents in remote parts of the state.
“As law enforcement, we really don’t want you sitting in traffic, because the longer that line backs up, the greater the risk,” Gibbs said. “But we’ve definitely noticed a lag in response time, even with more serious incidents.”
Rep. Ross Ford: ‘There has to be a better way’
While Tipton said OHP troopers will maintain their presence and patrols at the Oklahoma State Capitol, that doesn’t mean all members of the Legislature are pleased with the reallocation of resources.
Tipton said he did not consult with any elected officials other than Gov. Kevin Stitt prior to the July 3 announcement, and he said Stitt supported the OHP’s plans after a conversation in June.
“[Stitt] listened to me,” Tipton said. “He said it makes sense, and if that’s the direction that I felt was the best way to go as commissioner of public safety, then he supported it and to move forward with it.”
Despite not consulting with state lawmakers before formalizing the plan to reallocate resources, Tipton said he notified state House and Senate leadership before the plan went public. At least three state lawmakers have criticized the reallocation plan since then, including Rep. Ross Ford, a retired Tulsa Police Department officer who serves as chairman of the House Appropriation and Budget Subcommittee on Public Safety.
“I’m against the patrol pulling manpower from these densely populated areas,” Ford (R-Broken Arrow) said in a press release. “There has to be a better way to address the department’s concerns that doesn’t involve putting citizens in danger. I worry about increased incidences of driving under the influence and unattended collisions on interstate highways that currently fall under the patrol’s jurisdiction. The fact is, troopers patrolling these highways saves Oklahomans’ lives.”
Sen. Mark Mann (D-OKC) similarly disagreed with the reallocation. He responded by requesting a formal opinion on the proposal’s legality from Attorney General Gentner Drummond.
“This represents a major change in public safety for our two most populated counties – that’s why I asked for this opinion,” Mann said in a press release. “Our local police departments are already overburdened and under-resourced,” Mann said. “Shifting the responsibility of responding to incidents and accidents on interstate highways to local agencies will only exacerbate the serious challenges they already face.”
