History
Tulsa Police, 1882 to today.
A timeline of the Tulsa Police Department, drawn from Ron Trekell’s research and the museum’s own archive. It is a work in progress, and we add to it as artifacts and stories arrive.
1882
The first marshal
Tulsa is a cattle-shipping stop on the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad in the Creek Nation when a town marshal is first appointed. From this point forward the town is never without a lawman.
1898
Tulsa incorporates
The town is formally incorporated on January 18, 1898. Marshals and a handful of deputies keep order in a community about to be transformed by oil.
1907
Statehood, and a chief of police
Oklahoma becomes a state. The Tulsa Police Department is formally organized under its first chief, Herman Frederick Newblock, who serves from August 1907 to October 1908. The department has been led by 42 chiefs and marshals since.
1909
The roster photograph
Sixteen officers in bobby-style helmets and buttoned wool tunics sit for a group portrait. It is the oldest photograph in the museum’s collection and the image on our home page.
1920s
Oil Capital of the World
Tulsa’s population explodes with the oil boom. The department grows with it, adding motorcycles, patrol cars and the beginnings of modern investigation. The department’s role in the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre is part of this history, and the museum is committed to telling it honestly.
Mid-century
Radios, radar and the Auxiliary
Two-way radios replace the call box. Handheld radar changes traffic enforcement. Volunteer Auxiliary Police officers, in their own caps and badges, back up sworn patrol.
1980s-90s
Special units
The mounted patrol rides downtown and works crowds at the fair and parades. Motor officers ride the Kawasaki Police 1000. The Special Operations Team and dive team take on the calls no one else can.
1989
The history is written
Retired Corporal Ron Trekell publishes “History of the Tulsa Police Department, 1882-1990” after eight years of research.
2024
The Tulsa Police Museum
Active and retired officers form the museum as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Cataloguing begins.
2026
The first Speaker Series
The museum’s first Speaker Series event, a behind-the-scenes look at homicide investigation from Tulsa Police Detective Jason White, known to television audiences from “The First 48”, sells out.
Know something we don't?
Help us fill in the timeline.
Dates, names, unit histories, corrections. If you served, or a family member did, we want to hear from you.