Tulsa Fraternal Order Of Police Responds To Officer Position Cuts

NewsOn6.com

TULSA, OK --  It looks the remaining laid off Tulsa police officers may not be getting rehired.  That's because those jobs have now been eliminated by Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett at the request of the city's finance office. 

The city originally laid off 124 officers.

All but 89 were rehired and now those 89 jobs have been dissolved, along with all the other jobs in every city department that were affected by layoffs. 

The mayor's office tells The News On 6 if it wants to rehire someone in the future, it could create a new position to do so. 

NewsOn6.com has the entire list of jobs that were eliminated.

Response from Tulsa Fraternal Order Of Police:

March 23, 2010

Tulsa FOP Lodge responds to Mayor Bartlett cutting 89 positions

The Tulsa Fraternal Order of Police was shocked to learn (Monday) night through a television news report, that Mayor Bartlett signed away 89 officers' positions on March 8. Those 89 slots cover all the officers that have been laid off. Since March 8, the FOP negations team has met with the mayor's office. The Mayor and his staff has had opportunities to make the FOP aware of his decision and failed to do so, keeping the FOP in the dark about this decision he had made. The FOP had been under the belief that the Mayor and his staff were moving forward in a positive direction, and this is obviously not the case.

Currently, TPD maintains 706 officers on payroll with 6 retirements pending and more to come. These numbers dwindle from a current authorized strength of 781 to 706. It is important to note that there are no plans to hire any more officers to replace the ones that will be leaving. The FOP negotiations team has asked the mayor for numbers of personnel, and has not received a firm number. It has made it difficult for us to come up with a new contract proposal when the sworn staffing numbers range from 781 to 649.

Last week, Chief Chuck Jordan proposed a doable budget with hard numbers which would increase staffing while reducing the police budget by 6.9 percent. The FOP is confused to the drastic measure the Mayor's office has taken to cut staffing by almost 17 percent and not look at the workable solution the Chief has proposed.

The FOP is moving forward with negotiating the contract for 2010-2011 in good faith. However it is apparent, with recent findings of the misuse of grant money, and the continued talks of having county take over police services and now with the abolishment of these positions, the FOP is drastically losing faith in the Mayor and his staff. It is also apparent that the Mayor has an agenda: that no matter what cost savings the FOP comes up with to save taxpayer dollars, the Mayor is moving forward with his plan to have the county take over public safety within the city limits.

As summer comes closer, it is important to remember that the need for public safety increases. Bad guys like to commit crime in good weather. As the Tulsa Police Department's numbers dwindle from 781 officers to now 706 with 6 retirements pending, it is important that the focus stay on providing the level of protection to the families of Tulsa that they deserve and need.

The FOP strongly believes the City government of Tulsa belongs to the citizens of Tulsa. With the Mayor's scheme taking place in the background, the people of Tulsa should know that Tulsa Police officers will still be doing our job as public servants, as we took an oath to enforce the laws of the city and the state and to protect the citizens of Tulsa with our lives if need be. The lack of communication and unfair misrepresentation provided by the Mayor's office will not alter this. When you call 911 - an officer will be there.

3/10/2010  Related Story: Tulsa Releases More Email About JAG Grant