Police Increase Presence For St. Paddy's Day In Tulsa

Tulsa police say they will be out in force to make sure St. Patrick's Day partiers can come back to have fun another day. The department – along with other agencies – will have extra uniformed and undercover officers on the streets Saturday night.

"We're going to be targeting Cherry Street and the Brookside area," said Officer Craig Murray, traffic safety coordinator at the Tulsa Police Department.

Plain clothes officers will go into the bars to make sure employees stop serving people who are already drunk, he said.

The Tulsa County Sheriff's Department has plans to put some underage people on the street to make sure servings are checking ID, according to Murray.

Other agencies will be saturating the Blue Dome area downtown.

An estimated 10,000 people will be on hand to celebrate all things Irish. Murray said the department decided to make a push at St. Paddy's Day since it has fallen on a Saturday this year.

"We always think of the New Year's Eve and 4th of July with partying activities, but St. Patrick's Day and the Super Bowl rank right up there," he said.

"We don't take away anybody's fun, but we want them to come back to have fun another day."

Businesses will be serving up beer, music and more until 2 a.m.

The auto club AAA is offering its Tipsy Tow program through 2 a.m. March 18. The company will give up to two riders and their vehicle a ride home within a 15-mile radius of point of pickup, no questions asked. In addition to Tulsa, Tipsy Tow is underway in Ardmore, Lawton, Shawnee, Muskogee, Enid and Bartlesville.

Tipsy Tow is free to AAA members and nonmembers alike. Call (800) 222-4357 and ask for Tipsy Tow.