Tulsa Prepares For Monday's Downtown Immigration Rally

Friday, April 28th 2006, 10:12 am

By: News On 6

Tulsa Police prepare for an immigration rally that's expected to draw thousands. About 5,000 people could attend a rally at Tulsaâ€™s city hall on Monday as part of a national campaign called "A Day Without Immigrants."

With such a large crowd expected, Tulsa Police are taking precautions. News on 6 reporter Ashli Sims explains how they plan to keep the event safe for everyone.

Tulsa Police are dedicating 35 to 40 officers to Monday's rally, including several Spanish-speaking officers. They don't anticipate any problems, but they still want to be prepared.

Hundreds of Tulsa Hispanics gathered on street corners earlier this month in east Tulsa to protest immigration reform. What started out as a peaceful flag waving demonstration ended up spilling into the streets come nightfall and police had to shutdown a stretch of road.

Another rally is set for Monday and it's expected to be much larger, but this time, Tulsa Police say they're prepared. Acting Tulsa Police Chief Bill Wells: "There will be enough teams that we're confident of the safety and security not only of the rally people but people who are coming to city hall to do business."

Wells says they're working with city hall security to limit access to city buildings. He's also assigned 35 to 40 officers to city plaza, including about a dozen Spanish-speaking officers. Tulsa Police Captain Steve Odom has been certified to translate for the last three years. He says the Spanish-speaking officers have grown from only a handful, to more than a dozen. â€œIts gonna be very important for us to have our Spanish-speaking officers there because we're gonna be dealing with a crowd where some speak English, speak Spanish some won't speak English at all and we need to be able to communicate with them."

The Oklahoma Minuteman has planned a counter protest for the same day. Officers say they hope all demonstrations will remain peaceful. Tulsa Police Captain Steve Odom: â€œThere's always potential for tempers to flare but hopefully we're not going to have that. Tulsaâ€™s not known for that and we certainly don't want that to happen here."

Acting Police Chief Bill Wells says they have enough officers to work the rally without affecting other police business that day, by canceling some officers' days off.