Tulsa World: Pace of killings slower this year

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Pace of killings slower this year

By NICOLE MARSHALL World Staff Writer
Published: 7/14/2008 2:04 AM
Last Modified: 7/14/2008 2:35 AM

2008

Detectives have investigated 23 homicides so far this year, compared with 36 by the same time last year.

The current pace of homicides in Tulsa is the slowest since 2002, when 21 people had been killed by July 13, police Maj. Matt Kirkland said.

"Despite having several in the last few weeks, I am hopeful we are going to end the year with a low number of homicides,'' he said.

In previous years when the pace of homicides started slowly, it ended with totals in the 30s or low-40s, Kirkland said.

A Tulsa World review of state Medical Examiner's Office and Health Department records, as well as police reports, shows that 64 homicides took place in the city last year.

Kirkland said he believes that the Tulsa Police Department has cut into the number of homicides with task forces it has implemented in recent years. Each effort had the same goal — reducing violent crime — but each had a slightly different approach.

For example, after five or six homicides — some of them involving minors — happened at bars or as a result of disputes that started at bars, the Safe City Initiative targeted bars that illegally catered to minors and had frequent crime problems.

Kirkland said that effort has led to a reduction of violence in the city.

Of the 23 killings this year, eight are believed to be gang- or drug-related; six involved disputes; five were domestic; one was sparked by road rage and another by robbery. One child's

death is being investigated as a homicide. A shooting outside a club was ruled justified.

So far, detectives have closed 15 of the cases.

"When you break the cases down, it is very rare in Tulsa for citizens who are going about their business — who are not involved in gangs or drugs or other high-risk activity — to just be killed by a stranger,'' Kirkland said.

When reviewing this year's homicides, he said he has noted an encouraging trend.

"There is no common thread linking a lot of these homicides together,'' Kirkland said, unlike in 2003, when gang violence accounted for several homicides and shootings.

"I think that is one reason why the numbers are lower this year," he said. "We don't have the ongoing trend of violent crime that is perpetuating itself."

The pace of homicides has been slower this year, but Sgt. Mike Huff said a heavy workload remains for homicide detectives.

"What that means is just that we are getting called out in the middle of the night less,'' he said.

As a result, detectives can spend more time on unresolved cases. They also have to prepare for trials in several cases from previous years.

"We are trying to get down to the minutia of the cases, where they need progress, trying to figure out who we need to talk to again,'' he said.

The Homicide Unit launched a project this year focusing on people who disappeared in circumstances in which foul play is suspected. Officers are revisiting blood relatives and obtaining DNA samples to be entered into a national database.

About two dozen of those cases are decades-old. They include the disappearances of Ronald Shelley, who was 32 when he was last seen in December 1981, and Francine Frost, who was 44 when she vanished on Feb. 17, 1981. Her car was found, with the keys still in the lock, at a grocery store.

But the detectives are also focusing on newer cases, such as the disappearance of Tina Pitts, 44, who was last seen in November 2006, and Angie Tucker, 34, who disappeared Nov. 3.

Although Huff said detectives appreciate the lower-than-usual amount of fatal violence so far this year, he noted that "there is still violence going on out there."

"While it may be a little bit slow, it is not time to sit back," he said. "It is time to make sure we are ready for the future.''

World staff writer Curtis Killman contributed to this story.

Nicole Marshall 581-8459
nicole.marshall@tulsaworld.com By NICOLE MARSHALL World Staff Writer

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	Report Comment Isaac Parker, Tulsa (7/14/2008 6:03:26 AM) For example, after five or six homicides — some of them involving minors — happened at bars or as a result of disputes that started at bars, the Safe City Initiative targeted bars that illegally catered to minors and had frequent crime problems. ------------------------------- One simple question...Why does the city keep issuing permits for these known trouble spots? Could it be that revenue trumps safety?... probably.
	Report Comment RockBoston, (7/14/2008 12:26:53 PM) Our murder rate is down,,dang,,,better to get to work. Let's do our part and needlessly kill someone random before going home today. These numbers can't be allowed to decline or we might turn into a safe city.
	Report Comment okie ridgerunner, small town (11/1/2008 12:04:15 AM) It needs to get a lot slower.
	Report Comment Few Clothes, Austin, TX (11/22/2008 9:12:01 PM) Wow, this is impressive. Didn't 2007 began with 17 in January alone? Something's working this year.
	Report Comment It Matters!, (12/5/2008 11:48:24 AM) It is obvious which part of Tulsa has the most homicides. Let the gangs kill each other. And you wonder why business development is so slow for that area of Tulsa. Everything they have been given they have run down and ruined.

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