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Members of the Bartlesville Police Department addressed concerned community members for up to three hours at City Hall on Thursday evening.

One concern revolved around police reports and dispatch calls. In 2018, there were 27,106 dispatch calls taken. Chief Roles said this does not mean there are 27,000 crimes.

When asked how the community could support the police to get better results, Chief Roles said attending open forums like the one at City Hall is a good start. He said that opens a platform for him to hear you and for you to hear him in return.

Visiting him at the station located at 615 S. Johnstone is another way you can communicate concerns with him. The door is almost always open to the public. Chief Roles said he wants to hear what the BPD is doing wrong and what they are doing right so they can continue to make adjustments.

There have been high profile cases in the area in the last year that citizens asked about as well. All of those cases have had one major connection: drugs.

Chief Roles said the BPD has units that focuses on the drug issue in Bartlesville. He said they do not have enough officers in that unit to solve the problem but assured that no one does. If they did, he said they would not have drug issues in their town.

Unfortunately, there will always be drug issues. Chief Roles mentioned how the State of Oklahoma just legalized a drug that is being labeled as medical marijuana. He told the public on Thursday that it should not have been approved in Oklahoma. Working on a drug task force in Colorado before coming to Bartlesville, Chief Roles said homelessness went up 80-percent. This is the same state that is looking to legalize recreational, psychedelic mushrooms.

It hasn't happened yet, but Chief Roles said he would not be surprised if an armed robbery took place in a medical marijuana dispensary in Bartlesville. He said it may be an unpopular opinion, but he is shocked that an armed robbery has not taken place.

On top of the drug issue, squatters have caused problems in Bartlesville. Two homicides that happened on the east side of town in the last year have been tied to squatters living in homes that were not supposed to be in in the first place. If you are a home owner and you are renting out homes to others, Chief Roles asked that you be more responsible for your residents.

To combat this further, the BPD is doing what it can to increase in numbers. Now, there are 63 sworn officers at the BPD. That is more officers than Bartlesville has ever had at one time, and Chief Roles said that this is still eight officers below the State average.

The only way to fix it is to focus on growth over time. A proactive City Council also helps. Chief Roles praised Bartlesville's City Council for investing in body warn cameras during the summer and said he wished the department had them when a police involved shooting left 35-year-old Thomas Gay dead last June.

Would it have changed the facts? No. But according to Chief Roles, it would have told a better story. He said the BPD knows they did everything right, but they need the body cams to let everyone in the public know now that they did it right.

$170,000 was raised and 55 body worn cameras were purchased. Additionally, 11 dash cams were also purchased. There are several ways you can donate to help the BPD and one way is through the Bartlesville Police Foundation, which runs through the Bartlesville Community Foundation.

One last thing that Chief Roles urged that community to do is to request to take a ride with a police officer. All you have to do is talk to Beth at the front desk of the BPD and she will get you hooked up with an officer. While you might think it easy to do a police officer’s job, Chief Roles said this experience will change your perspective and make you reconsider how tough an officer's job really is.

As for other concerns addressed during the meeting, speeding in neighborhoods was addressed. Chief Tracy Roles said they have honed in on the issue with a new unit called the Traffic Unit. This division of the BPD consists of three officers, and since its inception last Monday, Aug. 26th, they have written 200 tickets, they've arrested 13 people, and they have been on-pace to do more damage this week.

The traffic unit has worked in neighborhoods because that is where people has expressed the most concern. Chief Roles said they have not worked a major thoroughfare yet. He said this is not about writing tickets – it’s about public safety.

The need for technological advancements and the expansion of the police reserve program was also addressed. Chief Roles said when he came into his role almost a year ago, the reserve program diminished quickly, but they have since brought it back. They have up to 16 reserve officers in place. Chief Roles said they will always strive for improvement at the BPD and he asks for everyone's patience.