Tulsa Police Department - Chiefâ€™s Award

Thursday, March 1st 2007, 10:16 pm

By: News On 6

It is given to any member of the Tulsa Police Department for an outstanding accomplishment which resulted in improved administration, operation or substantial savings in manpower or operational costs. The recipient went above and beyond the requirements of the normal assignment.

Officer Angie Scott, Mr. Mark Boese, Ms Mechelle Hampton
The Tulsa State Fair ran from September 29th through October 10th, 2005. During that time, the Tulsa Police Department booth in the Expo Center represented the department in a most positive way. It had a new look and let citizens have a crime scene interactive experience. Officer Angie Scott, Volunteers in Policing Coordinator Mechelle Hampton and Tulsa Forensic Laboratory Director Mark Boese, spent months planning, setting up and organizing the display that reached at least 10,000 citizens. A huge way to reach out to people in a very positive way.

Captain Travis Yates
Since Captain Travis Yates started his career on the Tulsa Police Department, heâ€™s been dedicated to educating people on safer driving, which has saved the lives of many officers on this department. As commander of the Tulsa Police Departmentâ€™s Precision Driving Unit, Captain Yates has applied for grants for Stop Sticks, created and maintained a nationally recognized law enforcement driving website and writing a monthly column for the largest national police web site www.policeone.com. As a nationally known proponent of Law Enforcement Driver's Training, Captain Yates coordinates and assists in the training of Tulsa Police officers and surrounding law enforcement officers in safe driving techniques, skills which they will use for their entire law enforcement career. All this brings positive recognition for the Tulsa Police Department, and has saved lives not just in Tulsa, but around the nation.

Detective Danielle Bishop
Detective Danielle Bishopâ€™s diligent work as a child crisis detective included educating the public and bringing suspects to justice, including a homicide suspect who thought heâ€™d gotten away with murder for 21 years. Detective Bishop got the Tulsa Police Departmentâ€™s drug exposure children program running by writing the grant and working with legislators.
That work earned her the Weber Seavey Award for Excellence in Police Service. Her efforts were tireless and unsurpassed.

Cpl. Bryan Bryden, Cpl. Steve Wood, Officers Doug Chism and Mark Sole
In April of 2005, the Oklahoma Highway Safety Office decided to revamp the Oklahoma Collision Report Form to properly report commercial vehicle collisions in compliance with federal guidelines. OSHO was also being pressured to standardize their forms to report data in compliance with Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria. Corporal Steve Wood, Officer Bryan Bryden, Officer Doug Chism and Officer Mark Sole volunteered for the OSHO committee. The request for input went out to all jurisdictions in the state, yet the only field officers who responded were these four officers from Tulsa and one from Edmond. Without them, people who donâ€™t work collisions would have designed the forms. Because of them, Oklahoma now has a collision form designed with officers and citizens in mind, which reflects well on the Tulsa Police Department both locally and nationally and will for years to come.

Sgt Virgil Litterell
Sergeant Virgil Litterell has displayed an exceptional amount of interest in all facets of his SWAT assignment. This interest has been instrumental in getting much needed equipment and training regulations for the department. Sgt. Litterell has been one of the primary contributors in promoting realistic training for SWAT members. He conducted and documented ballistic tests, concerning the penetration capabilities of different types of bullets. He researched, tested, evaluated and recommended the ballistic plates that the team now wears that can stop rifle rounds. He was involved in the testing of lights and mounts for the teamâ€™s primary weapons and has been a strong advocate in developing and improving some tactics used by the team. Sgt. Litterell has spent hundreds of hours of his personal time working on these things to improve the safety of every team member.

Sgt. Kurt Dodd, Sgt. Brandon Wycoff, Cpl. Dan Miller, Officers Jason Muse, Wes Phelps and Deanna Phillips
On June 22nd, 2006, officers responded to a possible mentally ill subject, who had been calling 911 and hanging up. Officers learned he was on medication for a mental illness and would act out when off the medication. They also learned there was also an 89 year old woman in the house. While they attempted to check on the well being of her, they could hear him breaking furniture. He came outside, holding several knives. Officers shot him with a less-lethal round and he ran back into the house and barricaded himself inside with her. A perimeter was set up along with an arrest team of Sgt. Brandon Wykoff, Sgt. Kurt Dodd, Corporal Dan Miller, Officer Wes Phelps, Officer Jason Muse and Officer Deanna Phillips. He began throwing burning clothes out the back door, catching the outside of the house on fire. The arrest team made a tactical approach and extinguished the fire. He then set fire inside. When the fire began spreading, the arrest team made a tactical entry to rescue the elderly hostage. They confronted him and apprehended him after he fled out the back door. They found the woman in a back, smoke filled, bedroom and saved her.

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