Tulsa Receives Grant To Target Crime At 61st & Peoria

Neighbors who live near 61st and Peoria are learning about a new half-million dollar grant to fund community policing and social services.

The federal grant will allow the Tulsa Police Department to dedicate an officer to that community.

One woman who lives in the Fairmont Terrace Apartments - an area known for several high-profile murders and shootings – said the idea of a community resource officer is good, but said it’s up to the community to fix the problem.

Donna Madden lives at 61st and Peoria; she's a grandmother and wants to keep her four grandchildren safe.

For her, it's not if there's going to be a shooting, it's when.

"And they've seen so much, you know what I mean? It's not good for them. I have to secure them and make sure - I can't tell them that it's not going to happen again. They say every night, 'Grandma, turn down the TV, you hear that,'" Madden said.

TPD is trying to combat the crime with a new community resource officer. A federal grant announced Tuesday will allow them to dedicate an officer to the area and pay other officers overtime to walk the beat.

11/16/2016 Related Story: Grant Money Going To Help Tulsa Neighborhood Fight Against Crime

Deputy Chief Jonathan Brooks said, "We really want to dive deeper and start looking at the roots of the crime."

Brooks said the officer will work with neighbors, apartment managers and businesses to combat crime.

"Through those relationships, that's when community policing will be effective," he said.

Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett hopes the grant helps rebuild the 61st and Peoria neighborhoods.

"It really affects all of us in some shape or form, it really does. So here's an area, had some difficulty, but now it's recovering, and that positive recovery assisted by this Byrne Grant is going to reflect on the entirety of our city," he said.

Tony: "What needs to be done? Do you think the police can fix it? And the police and the community can get together and fix it?"
Madden: "No, it takes the community to fix it."

The community resource officer will start next year and funding for the program will last about two years.