2 City Of Tulsa Employees Arrested, Accused Of Hiring Prostitutes

Two City of Tulsa employees get arrested in a sting to catch people hiring prostitutes.

Both men were arrested in Tulsa as part of a multi-agency operation.

The Tulsa Police Human Trafficking and Vice Unit arrested Tulsa Fire Department District Chief Stephen Shaw after they say he made arrangements online to meet a prostitute at a Tulsa hotel and pay $300 for a sex act. But police say he was actually talking with an undercover officer and when Shaw got to the hotel, he was arrested. Police say Shaw also had a baggie of cocaine in his pocket.

Police also arrested Jeromy Patton the night before at another hotel. Officers say Patton made arrangements online to pay $100 for a sex act. Patton works for the City of Tulsa in the Water and Sewer Department.

"What happens with a lot of these prostitution issues, is it spurs on sex trafficking. Which is the bigger issue we are talking about here,” said Captain Richard Meulenberg with Tulsa Police.

Police say this type of sting tries to reduce the demand for commercial sex, where they go after so-called Johns, who are willing to pay for sex.

"It's pretty clear cut what had happened here is someone offers services, someone wants to buy those services, but what we are really doing is this demand reduction; we want people to stop doing that, stop soliciting prostitution because it is creating almost an economic flow,” said Meulenberg.

Police say there is a lot of money in the sex trade, and with it comes drugs, guns and violence. Oklahoma law recently changed, making soliciting prostitution a felony instead of a misdemeanor. Police say they arrest people from all walks of life during these operations.

"It crosses all socioeconomic boundaries; it crosses all ethnicities. This is just something that everybody kind of gets caught up in, but the ultimate goal is, yes, we have people who are soliciting, the goal is to stop the predatory action of the sex traffickers by eliminating that market altogether,” said Meulenberg. "If we can save one human life from being sex trafficked by doing this, well then it is all worth it."

The Tulsa Fire Department issued a statement regarding Shaw’s arrest:

“The Tulsa Fire Department confirms that an employee was arrested last week. In accordance with our policies, the individual has been placed on administrative leave while the investigation is ongoing. The TFD is dedicated to upholding the highest standards of professionalism and maintaining the trust of the community we serve. We take these matters seriously and are fully cooperating with authorities. As this is a personnel matter, we are unable to disclose further details at this time. We appreciate the community’s understanding and continued support as we remain focused on our mission of protecting lives and property.”

Both men have bonded out of jail.