Randy Krehbiel
Tulsa World Staff Writer
Despite a persistent shortage of officers, Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin said Wednesday that he adamantly opposes loosening his department’s prerequisites.
“I could fill an academy class if I wanted,” Franklin said, “but I would be pushing lower-quality people through, and I just won’t do that.”
The Tulsa Police Department is about 150 officers below authorized strength and has been similarly shorthanded for some time. Its 800 or so sworn officers are about 60 fewer than when Franklin became chief nearly four years ago.
As is the case for many employers, TPD has found both recruiting and retaining personnel more challenging.
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“We’ve seen more officers leave with less time on (the force) in the last three years than at any other time,” Franklin said.
He said officers are leaving not only TPD but law enforcement altogether for better-paying private sector jobs with more schedule flexibility and less personal risk.
To maximize the officers he does have, Franklin said he’s shifted some jobs in areas such as information technology to civilians. He said he’s also emphasized technology utilization, including the installation of new cameras in every squad car and launching the department’s real time information system.
A text-to-9-1-1 system is expected to debut early next year.
But recruiting is perhaps particularly difficult for TPD. Aside from its other standards, the department is one of the few in the nation that requires at least a bachelor’s degree. Unlike many law enforcement agencies, it does not accept military service or training as an alternative.
Franklin, like chiefs before him, said “people who sit on the couch and say they can do things better” often encourage him to drop the requirement.
But Franklin said the completion of a bachelor’s degree seems to bring with it intangible qualities that seem to pay off in the long run. A 2020 research paper concluded that, nationally, college-educated law officers “obtain a higher number of commendations; have fewer traffic collisions; use less sick time; have fewer disciplinary actions; are more likely to use technology, accept organizational change and new methods of policing; and are able to solve problems more readily than those without a college degree.”
“I can’t say we don’t have problems, but the problems we do have are so small compared to other departments,” Franklin said. “Maybe it’s training. Maybe it’s that degree requirement. If you ask our young people what brought them to Tulsa PD, the overwhelming majority say they came because of that degree requirement.”
Franklin considers it so important that the department has worked out agreements with several universities, including Northeastern State and Oklahoma State University-Tulsa, that allows TPD’s academy to count toward degree completion. This allows recruits who have met the other requirements to enter the academy ahead of graduation.
“I’ve spoken with (police) chiefs that have said, ‘We just need to get people in.’ I have been advocating that we hold fast.”
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Tulsa World Opinion podcast | Should law enforcement require a college degree?
Tulsa Police Officer specializing in Community Outreach Innovation Strategies and workforce development Jesse Guardiola talks with Ginnie Graham about importance of the college degree requirement for law enforcement.
