Oklahoma City lawmakers met last week to review an interim study led by Rep. Eric Roberts, R-Oklahoma City. The study focused on deconfliction, which is the coordination of law enforcement operations to prevent overlap between agencies. The session included law enforcement officials who discussed how better communication and shared systems can improve officer safety and investigations.
Detective Van Keuren from the Oklahoma City Police Department described a 2024 incident in Mustang. During a human trafficking investigation, officers from different agencies were unaware of each other’s undercover work. This created a risk of conflict, but the situation ended without injury. The incident showed the need for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs’ deconfliction system to prevent similar risks.
Officials at the hearing said deconfliction is important for officer safety and the quality of investigations. The system began in 1996 and joined the Texoma High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) network in 1999. It now serves thousands of officers and hundreds of agencies in Oklahoma…