Community Calls On OKC Council For Action Following OCPD Officer's Criminal Charge Dismissal

Members of the community are urging the Oklahoma City City Council to take action following the dismissal of criminal charges against Oklahoma City Police Sgt. Joseph Gibson. They are asking for his termination, enhanced de-escalation training, and stronger accountability measures within the police department.

Call for termination of OCPD officer involved

“We are here to demand justice for the family. We are here to demand fairness and equality for our community members,” said Thuan Nguyen, Vietnamese American Heritage Community of Oklahoma President. “I would call for the termination of Officer Gibson effective immediately and that is on behalf of what the family wants. I'm not only speaking of the Vietnamese Community today but I'm speaking on behalf of the family that this is the justice they are seeking out.”

Nguyen says the termination of the officer would resolve the situation in the Vu family's eyes.

Call for increased de-escalation training within OCPD: 

“A 71-year-old man fighting bone cancer is now suffering from a skull fracture because Sgt Joseph Gibson slammed his body into the ground instead of waiting for another officer to arrive or simply using a translation line,” said Cindy Wynn, Co-Founder of the Asian Taskforce of Oklahoma. 

“If the Oklahoma City Police Department cannot de-escalate a situation with an elderly man fighting bone cancer or a 15-year-old boy who felt like he had no other options, then how can we trust them to uphold safety in our most vulnerable of communities,” said Wynn.

“We call on the council to take the following actions. One: make de-escalation a core value in every interaction and not just a policy on paper. Two: revise the use of force policy to demand verbal warnings before force is used.Three: ensure 100% implementation of the use of force systems to increase accountability. Four: strengthen the Force Review Board to ensure its recommendations result in measurable preemptive changes,” said Tasneem Al-Michael, with the Center for Community Justice.

“They're not just recommendations, they are necessities,” said Al-Michael.

“While this is a sensitive topic amongst us, we all believe there is a way forward that can enact the positive change that we all know can be done,” said Steve Le, Executive Director of the Asian District Cultural Center. 

“I strongly recommend the City Council as well as the City Police Department provide a training program for their officers in appeasing the tense situations while dealing with the public,” said Michael Washington, an OKC resident. 

“Please make the right choice and do the right thing, make your recommendation that accountability is everything,” said Garland Pruitt, President of the NAACP.

What’s next for Sgt. Gibson?

While the criminal charges have been dropped, Drummond noted there remains an open and ongoing internal investigation that could result in non-criminal forms of accountability for Sgt. Gibson. 

“This incident will also be reviewed with our public safety community advisory board, not as a part of discipline but as a part of this process with how we are engaging with the community,” said Craig Freeman, OKC City Manager.

“With some of the things that have been mentioned today with de-escalation, procedural changes, training anything like that that's needed as a result of this, and they will also review the actions that were taken by the city as a result of what occured,” said Freeman. 

OKC Public Safety Partnership

Through a public safety partnership, 39 recommendations were made to the City Council in March 2022.

The recommendations focused on eight topics:

1. Law enforcement de-escalation policy
2. Independent law enforcement accountability to the community
3. Law enforcement training in crisis response
4. Alternative response to mental health calls
5. Law enforcement focus on youth outreach
6. Creation of a neighborhood safety/violence interruption program
7. Police officer access to mental health services
8. Expansion of law enforcement homeless outreach initiatives

Since the recommendations were presented, the OKC Public Safety Partnership was created, OCPD and OKCPS collaborated on SRO engagement guidelines, the Crisis Intervention Advisory Group was announced and the Community Public Safety Advisory Board was established.

To look at the full timeline, and all recommendations, click here:  https://www.okc.gov/government/okc-public-safety-partnership