Downtown Tulsa residents concerned about encounters with the homeless

[Spider27monkey]

I've had encounters downtown since 1994. Back then, i parked on Archer and walked across the pedestrian bridge to the tower. I was approached daily by homeless begging for cash.
Fast forward to today, I park in the covered garage and have had to step over vagrants sleeping in the stairwells. These folks were camping there with their pillows and blankets, at least those people were polite, but I warned my coworkers not to go in the stairwell alone.
I've also seen what looked like a murder scene in one stairwell. It looked like a deer was gutted and something was under a sleeping bag. I report all these incidents to the tower security. That one the police were called, but I dont know how that one ended.

The day center for the homeless is on Archer. Lots of homeless eat and sleep there, but they are out during the day asking for money on the street corners.

The atmosphere is becoming more toxic by the day!

I've worked in the Park Centre building since 1989. I too have frequent encounters with the homeless. They have became more and more aggressive over the years. Just a few days ago, a security officer from a nearby property was physically attacked by a homeless person. Just yesterday, a email was circulated in our office warning everyone to be on the alert for another pan handler aggressively harassing people at 6th and Boston.

 

[Chief Sapulpa]

When I moved to Tulsa 35 years ago the only people that lived downtown were the homeless and the criminally insane.

 

[Dorkus]

Exactly. There are many more of them, and they are much more aggressive than ever.

I agree with this 100%.

My dad worked at an oil field supply company on North Boston. I was little and we went to pick him up on our way out of town one day and he asked if we ever saw a derelict person. That was before being homeless was the cool thing to say. Of course my brother and I said "no" and he drove the full square block and I remember every doorway had homeless drunks in them. I may be remembering wrong but I bet we saw 50 people in that one square block alone. They each had bottles with brown paper around them and of course I asked what they had their drinks in a paper sack.

 

[Dorkus]

Back in the late 90's I had a job interview in downtown Tulsa, just a few days before my interview they found someone dead on the back entrance. That's where the employees entered. Talking with the prospective employer he told me that I would have to enter in the front of the building due to the back due to the crime scene tape at the back entrance. I asked why and he told me, next question was can I carry my gun into his office, he was reply was I expect you to. He said that most of his employees had started carrying due to the homeless population in the area. This combined with two shifts that overlapped one that started at 4 am and one that ended at 11 pm.

When I worked at a warehouse downtown (same as my fathers) during the summers one of the guys told me a story. They found a dead homeless guy with a knife still in him earlier that year and of course they called the cops. The cops came, coroner took him etc. One of the guys called the police station a few days later to ask what the cause of death was. They told him "natural causes".

 

[panayoti]

I used to bicycle from sand springs to riverside bike trail. Lots of homeless under the 244 bridge. Broken glass, urine smell, occasionally yelled at by homeless person. Glad I had my friends smith and Wesson with me.

 

[joegrizzy]

worked downtown okc for many years. have been working from home and gotta say, not having daily/weekly interactions in a dark parking lot with hobos sleeping between cars has been nice.

same with okc; now that area is getting really trendy. i think the hobos still poop there; Lord knows they did. i will say the amount of homeless is norman has gone way up, so maybe okc is bussing them down there.

 

[NationalMatch]

When I worked at a warehouse downtown (same as my fathers) during the summers one of the guys told me a story. They found a dead homeless guy with a knife still in him earlier that year and of course they called the cops. The cops came, coroner took him etc. One of the guys called the police station a few days later to ask what the cause of death was. They told him "natural causes".

Dang! Covid that long ago?

 

[Yeti695]

When I worked at a warehouse downtown (same as my fathers) during the summers one of the guys told me a story. They found a dead homeless guy with a knife still in him earlier that year and of course they called the cops. The cops came, coroner took him etc. One of the guys called the police station a few days later to ask what the cause of death was. They told him "natural causes".

Craziness. Natural causes ??

 

[Chaparral]

Guy with two knife wounds along the spine. Both deep and fatal. Face down. No knives. Defensive wounds on hands, knees cut. No blood splatter. Ruled suicide. Happens more often than you think.

 

[Rooster1971]

Okc may not be much better. The encampments are crazy. 10th and Pennsylvania is nuts. Sucks to see homeless kids running around also. City care is down the street on Virginia and I’ve been in touch with Adam and his crew to volunteer help. I go to Church Under The Bridge some at 3 on Sundays.
I wish there was more mental health treatment for them, but some might not want it. Some don’t want to give up crazy because it’s a part of them that helps them survive.