TPD : a new energy, a new look

Just over three months into his new job, Tulsa Chief of Police Wendell Franklin has brought a new energy to the Tulsa Police Department (TPD), and now the department will have a new look as well.

This week Franklin unveiled a new design for the TPD’S vehicles, a design already being praised for its symbolism as well as its style.

“As we move along through life, there are changes that come along and an evolution that takes place and we knew that we needed to change some things,” the chief said. “We knew that we wanted to change our outward appearance.”

Franklin said that his officers’ vehicles are more than just a way to get from here to there.

“This new car, this is our office,” Franklin observed. “Most people have a cubicle or four walls. Police officers have a vehicle as their office and it’s their work space and they wanted some change, and so I wanted to give them that change.”

Major Travis Yates explained that because the new design will be incorporated on new vehicles during the ordinary schedule of their replacement, the design changes won’t cost taxpayers any additional money.

Yates pointed out that the symbolism on the design is as important as its functionality, from the “One Tulsa” motto to the phrase “Strength through Service.” Large numbers on top of the car will help police helicopters identify the patrol vehicles from above, and a reverse printed “Police” on the front of the cars will assist drivers to know these are real patrol units when they see them in their rear-view mirrors. The recruiting website Jointpd.com is printed on the back.

Yates said the new black Ford SUV is “really a rolling billboard for us…most people in the community don’t meet us personally, but they all see police cars, so it was really important to combine the functionality along with the messaging.”

The SUVS will be rolled out at a rate of about a hundred per year over the next six years, with the first expected to arrive this fall.

Speaking with La Semana after the new SUV was presented, Chief Franklin said there have been some real challenges taking over just as the COVID19 crisis struck the city.

“That’s just been a nightmare and a mess to try and deal with, and more so for law enforcement,” Franklin said. “The issue is trying to find that balance between the civil orders issued by the mayor, the orders issued by the governor, and the United States Constitution - trying to find the balance between that, because when you talk about people assembling that’s in the US Constitution that we can peacefully assemble, and when you're talking about trying to keep people from doing that, that that can become problematic.”

Franklin said some of his initial plans for greater outreach in the Hispanic community have been delayed by the current crisis.

“This pandemic has really put a damper on a lot of the projects that we have going on,” The chief said. “We’re trying to get community resource officers in east Tulsa, trying to find better ways to be able to communicate with the Hispanic community. So that work continues and it won’t ever stop.”

Franklin said basic human interaction will be the key to developing a stronger relationship between Hispanics and the TPD.

“Our biggest problem is trying to get people of the Hispanic Community to trust us,” the chief acknowledged, “and the way that we do that is based on our interaction with them. That’s it. We can’t have those negative encounters and expect people to like us. We need positive encounters and that comes from invites to Cinco de Mayo and in all of those other events when you get one-on-one with us and it’s not an adversarial time, then then that’s the way you build those relationships. It’s hard to like a policeman who stops you and writes you a ticket.”

Franklin said his vision for the city is printed right on the new patrol vehicles.

“We are one Tulsa as the logo says on the car, and we are here for everyone,” he said. “It does not matter what color your skin is, it doesn’t matter what language you speak. We are all one Tulsa, and so I would just love for everyone to give us the opportunity to get to know us and I think you’ll find that that we all have a lot of things in common.” (La Semana)