Chat With The Chief: Violent Crime Statistics, New Safety Center And More

It's the last week of the year, so how has Tulsa done when it comes to crime statistics? Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin joined us Thursday morning with some answers.

The Woodland Hills Mall Shooting has now turned into a homicide investigation. We've reported that investigators know who they are looking for.

Related Stories:

1. 21-Year-Old Killed After Shooting At Woodland Hills Mall
2. Witnesses Describe Lockdown After Deadly Shooting Outside Mall
3. Oklahoma's Own In Focus: Preparation For Potential Mass Casualty Events

What can you tell us about the Woodland Hills Mall shooting suspect and case?

"We still have detectives out working it. We have investigators out. Crime scene guys are still combing through evidence on that front. And, you know, we hope to identify the shooter soon and hopefully make an arrest. We know there were a lot of people out at the scene. And if anyone saw anything, even if you don't think it's useful, we want to know about it. We want you to call our Crime Stoppers and give us that information," Chief Franklin said.

Where are we at in terms of violent crime statistics?

"We're at 47 homicides on the year for Tulsa. That is dramatically decreased from years past. And I credit the great work of the men and women of the Tulsa Police Department in keeping that number down. Also that connection with our city, our community, those numbers don't come down based on detectives doing great work. They do great work. However, there are people in the community that also want a safe community. And so they will come forward and step forward and provide information to us. So those are some of the other reasons why. And we also have our crime gun unit that goes after people with firearms that shouldn't have firearms. And so I credit them with a lot of great work that's going into reducing that number," Chief Franklin said.

TPD made a presentation to the city council on the new safety center. How is this going to help the department?

"Well, first off, we're going to use it as a recruiting tool. You know, again, we talk about how we have this great department. We invest in our equipment, into salaries and benefits. But now we also are investing into the facilities. And we want a facility that men and women can be proud of and people can show up to work and want to work in, in a nice facility. So it's going to be great on that front. It's also going to be great for our citizens. No one likes to come to the police department. Typically, it's something bad. It's, you know, getting a collision report or making a report or you're witnessing a crime or, you know, you're a crime victim's family. But we want that to have a good atmosphere as well. And so this is going to create that force," Chief Franklin continued, "We're still going to continue our investment in technology. We still have a system that we need to get updated, which is our records management system. That records management system is the key to all things policing for us. And until we get that system updated and live, we're still fighting crime behind the curveball."

CLICK HERE to learn more about the Tulsa Police Department.