Although reluctant to send officers to the courthouse or accept help from the National Guard while the situation there could have been controlled, Tulsa’s police chief and police commissioner did not hesitate to hand out dozens — and probably hundreds — of special commissions after the shooting started on the night of May 31.
These special officers would be blamed for much of the murder and mayhem to follow. Maj. James Bell of the Oklahoma National Guard told his superiors “these special deputies were imbued with the same spirit of destruction that animated the mob. They became as deputies the most dangerous part of the mob and after ... the declaration of martial law the first arrests ordered were those of special officers.”
Special commissions were not unusual, but those of May 31 were never explained.
“We were unable to limit the commissions to our choice,” said Police Commissioner J.M. Adkison. “I usually talked to the men and those I thought would remain cool headed I commissioned.”
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— Stories by Randy Krehbiel
