Too Few Police? or Too Much Crime?

We hear the rhetoric every week. We don't have enough police.

I had a chance to have dinner with a police chief in a well known California city a few weeks back. He was just named as police chief, so naturally, the conversation turned to Tulsa's search for a police chief. He has kept up with Tulsa's situation, since he has family here.

During that conversation I told him that Tulsa has a police shortage. He was truly surprised that I said that and he quickly said he did not think that was the case. That got me to thinking, perhaps I have just accepted what everyone is saying at face value. So I decided to look a bit further.....

You can check out my research here. Maybe you would like to take the comparisons further. Let's see how Tulsa compares to other midwestern cities regarding police and total city government expenses.

First of all, Tulsa, population 391,908 has 739 police officers paid $3,246,350. We have police-other personnel of 144 paid $400,944. Tulsa spends $13,899,429 for 4,066 total city employees.

What about Wichita? Population 355,426. 601 police officers paid $2,248,042; Police-other personnel of 230 paid $608,381. Wichita spends $9,941,031 for 2,934 total city employees.

How about Omaha? Population 399,357. 775 police officers paid $4,265,264; Police-other personnel of 179 paid $568,203. Omaha spends $12,234,790 for 2,564 total city employees.

Lastly, how about Colorado Springs? Population 371,182. 644 police officers paid $3,411,068; Police-other personnel of 281 paid $1,042,973. Colorado Springs spends $27,760,295 for 6,504 total city employees.

Perhaps we are not as short of police as we have been told.

More than likely, we just have too much crime, or too many criminals in our midst.

Brother of the Brush Photos

Here's a pic of dad with his co-worker George taken in 1956. Looks like he already had a good start on that beard! This pic was taken at American Airlines, I believe. He came off the farm in Illinois and received his training in aircraft mechanics in the Air Force. He came to Tulsa in the early 50's. Tulsa had a great aviation presence at that time and he worked for Spartan, Douglas, then AA.







I love this picture! It was taken in our backyard on the North side of Tulsa on 42nd Street in 1957. Dad has his Bowler hat and full beard for the Tulsarama celebration. Mom said he was glad to shave off the beard as it was hot and scratchy.

The girl is my older sister. I think she is holding an old Brownie camera with the flash attachment. I'm sure it is still around somewhere....

Tulsarama and the "Brothers of the Brush"

"Tulsarama, " was Tulsa's contribution to the Semi-Centennial (1957). Local men, called "The Brothers of the Brush," were encouraged to grow beards. Beards were rare in the 1950s and always gathered attention. The beards would then be shaved off during the festivities.

You can learn more about the Tulsarama here.


My dad was one of the Brothers of the Brush. Here is his certificate of membership.




My dad died over 8 years ago. Mom is sure that he made a guess about the population of Tulsa in 2007 that just may be included inside the buried 1957 Plymouth Belvedere that will be unearthed at noon on 6-15-07.




I know there are some old photos I remember seeing of my dad with a beard. I will try to find some and post them later. By the way, the men also wore bowler hats as well.

Brother of Joel Hinrichs Arrested

Does lightening strike twice in the same place?

Apparently the brother of Joel Henry Hinrichs has been the subject of an FBI investigation for some time, and now he has been arrested. Read about it here.

Too Much Government Interference

I happened to take an old shortcut through my mom's neighborhood a few days ago. I turned down Darlington, my mind on automatic pilot. I came to my senses just in time to see a stop sign that was not there before. I traveled a couple of more blocks and there was another one! A total of 3 stop signs on Darlington Avenue in the space of one mile, where there used to be one. So much for the shortcut.

The same thing has happened in my neighborhood, and I assume it has in yours. Now, people do tend to drive too fast in neighborhoods, but wouldn't a yield sign do just as well? By far, most of the time there is no one to stop or yield to.

I think this is a daily reminder that we have too much government. This is intrusive into our lives. It wastes gasoline and time. The signs also have a cost to the city.

How can we get rid of some of these neighborhood stop signs?

States I Have Visited

create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

This was a fun exercise. I think I remember most of the places to which I have travelled. I'm not including those states that were just layovers for airline travel.