KRMG In Depth: TPD Chief Wendell Franklin explains his decision to step down

In February of 2020, the Tulsa Police Department welcomed a new chief - a Tulsa native, with more than twenty years’ experience in the department.

It was a tough time to take on that role - considering the pandemic was just ramping up, the countdown to the race massacre centennial was ongoing, and just around the corner was civil unrest, divisive political races, and other major crises.

[Hear the KRMG In Depth Report on Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin’s decision to retire HERE]

Wednesday, Chief Wendell Franklin announced his retirement, effective at the end of July. In response to a slew of inquiries, he held a news conference yesterday to explain that decision, and discuss what’s next for himself, and TPD.

He said being police chief of a major city is extremely stressful, and certainly Tulsa had more than its share of crises during his four-year tenure.

But just the daily grind of constant pressure was also taking a toll, and he knew he had to consider a change.

That’s when - out of the blue - he got a call about a job offer with BOK Financial.

He said his inclination was to “kick the can down the road,” but decided to go speak to Mayor G.T. Bynum.

“I ended up meeting privately with the mayor to let him know ‘hey, mayor I have this job opportunity and I need to leave, but I promised you I wouldn’t leave,’” Franklin recalled. “So I said ‘I will... I will stick (with) you throughout this, but uh there’s this job opportunity that I have.’ And he immediately said ‘no, you take that job opportunity and don’t worry about things.’”

It was also important for him, Franklin said, to leave on his own terms.

“I’ve seen chiefs of police that essentially get run out of office, or they leave under a cloud of suspicion,” he said. “I did not want that.”

Among his accomplishments, he listed increasing the number of sergeants and lieutenants and creating a fourth shift, completely retooling public information and social media functions into a new communications office, and significant upgrades to the department’s technological assets.

His resignation will take effect July 31st.