New Tulsa Police Chief Larsen Outlines Goals In New Role

Thursday is the first day on the job for new Tulsa Police Chief Dennis Larsen. He takes over after Wendell Franklin retired to move into the private sector.

Larsen has been with the department in various roles for more than 45 years and has been a deputy chief for the past 17 years.

Larsen says keeping people in Tulsa safe is his top priority, and to do that, he says his main goal is recruiting good officers. The department is still around 150 officers short. His other main goal is to continue to expand technology since it helps fill the gaps of the officer shortage.

Larsen says as he has climbed the ranks over the years, he always had a goal to be Chief. He worked patrol the first 12 years of his career, promoted to Sergeant, spent time working at headquarters, then worked in Special Operations as a Captain, worked in the bomb squad, then was promoted to Deputy Chief.

"The mayor placed faith in me to take over the department that Chief Franklin started moving forward and keep that ball and that momentum rolling so we can continue to be one of the best departments in the country,” said Larsen.

Recruiting, expanding technology and reducing violent crime are his top goals.

"When you think of things we've had to stop doing because we are 143 officers short versus what we could do, if we are at 943, it would be simply amazing."

TPD has struggled to recruit officers, like many departments across the nation, but Larsen says he won't reduce the department’s standards. He says they are bringing in qualified officers from other states who want to live and work in Tulsa.

"We will never lower that as far as under my administration. We are going to hold that line. We want a well-rounded, well-educated individual that can go out and enforce the law equally,” said Larsen.

Larsen says they've had to fill the officer shortage gap with overtime and technology. He says the city's Real Time Information Center has been a game changer, but the department's current records system dates back to the 1960s, so they plan to roll out a new one next fall.

He says they will also be rolling out new technology that allows them to go live with officers' body cameras to see and hear what an officer does. They will also use Artificial Intelligence in sync with the body cameras to help write reports quickly.

"Technology is allowing us to hold the line of being efficient and get more out of our field officers and our detectives with the numbers we currently have. Recruiting drives the future,” said Larsen.

As for his officers, Larsen says he will always have their back, and for the community, he says keeping people safer is his main priority.

Larsen says next March's academy is full with 30 people, the first time they've had a full academy in more than five years.