Tulsans have one more opportunity to give feedback about Tulsa Police Department's community policing practices

CNA, the policing firm Mayor G.T. Bynum hired to evaluate Tulsa police community engagement practices, is hosting a second community feedback forum Tuesday afternoon at Rudisill Regional Library from noon to 1:30 p.m. to present its initial evaluation findings and gauge community concerns.

The firm hosted the first forum Monday night at Central Center at Veterans Park.

In the presentation of the firm’s initial findings, CNA said it has already interviewed nearly 50 police and community stakeholders, conducted a 475-response public survey and held three focus groups in “hot spot areas” around the city.

The main issues brought up in those initial efforts range from racial disparities within the Police Department and a perceived lack of compassion to general interactions with the public, according to the presentation.

Strengths of the department included the creation of the Community Engagement Unit and collaborations with mental health partners. Specific officers were praised for their engagement in communities and ability to speak Spanish.

Tulsa residents who attended Monday evening’s forum then discussed their own thoughts in small groups, and those thoughts were presented to the CNA team, which will compile them with the team’s other findings.

Attendees at Tuesday’s meeting will have the same opportunity.

The meetings and subsequent evaluation, the city said, are part of an effort to fulfill a recommendation on community engagement and policy assessment outlined in the Findings and Recommendations of the Tulsa Commission on Community Policing. The 10-page document created in 2017 outlined 77 recommendations for the Tulsa Police Department to improve community policing.