Oklahoma Top 10 For Rate of Police Killings in 2023

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Oklahoma had the 10th highest rate of killings by police officers of any state, and Tulsa had the 10th highest rate of any city in the U.S. in 2023, according to Mapping Police Violence.

The data, which is considered a reliable source by national news outlets around the country, recorded at least 1,243 police killings last year, the highest in a decade.

Additionally, in 95 percent of America’s major cities, including Oklahoma City, police kill Black people at higher rates than they kill White people. Black Americans make up just 13.7 percent of OKC residents in a city that is 61 percent White, according to U.S. Census data.

The data show a morbid trend that continues into 2024, with at least 44 people killed by police so far. January 12 was the only day this year so far in which police did not kill anyone.

Following the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd in May 2020, the International Criminal Court published a report that deemed U.S. police killings of Black people crimes against humanity.

“This finding of crimes against humanity was not given lightly, we included it with a very clear mind,” said Hina Jilani, one of the 12 commissioners who led the inquiry, adding, “We examined all the facts and concluded that that there are situations in the US that beg the urgent scrutiny of the ICC.” 

The damning data show no progress has been made to reduce police killings despite nationwide protests and new federal guidelines.

U.S. Police killings continue to climb, Oklahoma top 10

It’s difficult to get a full breakdown of findings for states like Oklahoma, where some departments don’t publicize all use of force data. The lack of transparency faced national criticism in 2021 thanks to a peer-reviewed report from the Lancet, a well-respected medical journal.

The report found Oklahoma to be the most deadly state in the U.S. for police violence. It had the highest mortality rate from police encounters between 1980 and 2018. In addition, the state leads the nation in the number of underreported police killings.

According to the report, officials misclassified or unreported about 84% of police killings in the state in a 38-year period.

High profile killings by police have continued in Oklahoma, with at least 23 people killed in 2023, according to a tracker from the Frontier, an investigative news outlet based in Tulsa. The vast majority of those killed had weapons on them, according to police.

Yet in the September 20 shooting of 28-year-old Alejandro Faudoa, Oklahoma Highway Patrol refused to say whether he had a weapon when troopers pulled over his semi truck and shot him following an “altercation.”

In July, Oklahoma County District Attorney Vicki Behenna dropped charges against seven police officers who were indicted in the killings of three people, one of whom was 15-year-old Stavian Rodriguez. Store footage showed five officers firing on the boy after he tried to drop his weapon.

In August, an off-duty officer shot an unarmed Black bystander during a shooting at a high school football game in Del City, near OKC. For months, KFOR journalist Ashley Moss has unsuccessfully tried to obtain records relating to the shooting. Oklahoma County Sheriff Tommie Johnson III has refused to comply.

Related Stories

• Oklahoma police most deadly of all 50 states study shows
• Police killings of Black Americans are crimes against humanity
• Democrat defends vote to give police majority power on review boards

Citizen oversight voted down in Oklahoma

Proposals for citizen oversight of local police departments have continued in cities like Tulsa. Yet the Oklahoma Legislature overrode the voices of residents when it passed a law that required a majority of police officers to fill the seats of any local advisory boards.

Surprisingly, two Democrats voted along with Republicans to send it to the state Senate.

“My thought was something like this would be better than nothing and could possibly break the dam to getting a review board going [in Tulsa],” Democratic Rep. Suzanne Schreiber told The Black Wall Street Times when asked why she voted for the bill without consulting community leaders.

Meanwhile, 22 percent of Oklahoma arrests and 28 percent of Oklahoma police killings involved Black residents, even though they make up only seven percent of the state population.

To read the full report from Mapping Police Violence, click here. To view data on Oklahoma, click here.