Tulsa Police Say They Have Seized Hundreds Of Illegal Guns Through New Initiative

Tulsa Police said they've arrested 61 people and taken 203 illegal guns off the streets in the past month.

TPD said this is their response to the dozens of shootings that have happened in Tulsa since April, as part of an on-going gang war.

Chief Wendell Franklin said their goal is straight to the point: end the gun violence in Tulsa. He said while this month was a good one, they aren’t stopping. Franklin said with the help of the FBI, ATF, U.S. Attorney’s office and others, they reduced violent crime by 95 percent in the last month.

Franklin said they saw a big increase in shootings about five months ago, when two rival gangs got into a war. He said officers identified the most violent individuals who were involved in several shootings, and arrested those people.

TPD said they used more than 100 officers, served several search warrants and out of 61 arrests of violent criminals, officers only had to use minor force four times. Franklin has been outspoken this summer about how frustrating all this violence is and the lack of support from citizens to help stop it, but he said this time, people stepped up.

"I did have a number of individuals that got up off the couch and said we want to be a part of the solution and some of their help is part of why we have 61 arrests today,” said Chief Franklin.

Franklin said one thing everyone can do to help is stop leaving guns in cars because criminals are stealing them left and right.