A Closer Look At Tulsa's Rising Violent Crime Rate

Wednesday, February 8th 2006, 5:44 am

By: News On 6

Tulsa Police detectives have their hands full with 12 homicide cases in six weeks. Violent crimes are up in Tulsa and Police Chief Dave Been says he needs more officers on the streets.

Right now, Tulsa has 815 officers on the force. But Chief Dave Been says he needs 1,000 officers to combat the city's rising violent crime rate.

Overall, Tulsa's crime rate is down. But violent crimes like murder, robbery and assault are all up.

The News on 6 checked out the population of city's about the same size as Tulsa to compare the size of police forces. Colorado Springs, Colorado's population is almost the same size and they have 689 officers on the street. Minneapolis, Minnesota has 861 police officers on the beat. If we used the national average, Tulsa should have 892 officers.

Kathryn Price knows first hand about the crime rate in town. After her east Tulsa home was robbed four times, she moved to South Tulsa. "The crime in the neighborhood had risen so much that we could not allow our children to walk down to the local park. Really couldn't have them in the front yard to play."

Before Price moved to a new neighborhood, she did some research. She logged on to the Tulsa Police website and checked out the crime stats of different neighborhoods.

Price admits it's more expensive, but says it's worth it for her family's security.