Oklahoma’s Encampment Sweeps Had Three Very Different Outcomes in Three Cities
When Gov. Kevin Stitt’s Operation SAFE came to Norman on May 22, Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers cleared a homeless encampment on state-owned property without warning to service providers or the people living there. Advocates said it stripped vulnerable people of their belongings, disrupted active housing efforts and accomplished nothing lasting.
Jake Ramsey reports the Norman sweep stands in sharp contrast to how Operation SAFE unfolded in Oklahoma City in November. After watching the Tulsa rollout produce a public rift between Stitt and Mayor Monroe Nichols and further displace unhoused residents, Oklahoma City advocates proactively approached the state about collaboration. Service providers were included in the process and the state agreed to pay up to $800,000 for housing and services for those displaced…