Tulsa City Council on Wednesday night unanimously approved extending the city’s downtown curfew through October 2026.
The modified curfew prevents unaccompanied minors from being downtown between 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. It previously included Thursday nights.
“This doesn’t preclude you being downtown, including during the hours,” Councilor Laura Bellis, whose district includes the southern half of downtown, said after the vote. “It’s just trying to encourage a safe way to be present. I would view it as a harm reduction tool.”
Minors who are at an event, having dinner or participating in activities downtown that extend past the curfew time can stay, but must leave once the event is over, according to city rules.
About a dozen residents were present for the vote, but Evan Taylor was the only person to speak during public comment.
He said a curfew encourages minors to congregate in areas where it’s harder to be found, which is why he doesn’t think it’s a sufficient deterrent to youth violence.
“The more we kill spiders, the better they hide, right?” he said after the ordinance was approved. “That’s the whole point of evolution. So you take away these areas from the youth, they’re going to go hide.”
The curfew will also require Tulsa police to give council quarterly updates on the amount of citations issued, crime statistics, demographics and police contacts made with minors.
Police have issued around five citations since it went into effect in late June after a violent Juneteenth weekend where at least seven people were shot and one was killed.
Ismael Lele is a Report for America corps member and writes about business in North Tulsa for The Oklahoma Eagle. Your donation to match our Report for America grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting this link.
