TULSA, OK (KJRH) — For the next couple weeks, Tulsa city councilors will wonder what Mayor Bynum has in store after he pulled his original proposal for an independent police monitor.
Councilors are still fairly surprised the mayor pulled the proposal after weeks of meetings and input, and now it's potentially back to the drawing board.
Mayor Bynum and the Tulsa city councilors had heard dozens of viewpoints about an office of the independent monitor, which is a position that would be created to work for the city, and go through police investigations after they've wrapped up.
But councilors have been split on the issue since the beginning - some thinking the "auditor" role wasn't enough.
"My preference is that an independent monitor would be a city employee, so that we as a city continue to maintain that responsibility," said Tulsa District Four City Councilor Kara Joy McKee. She had suggested the wording be changed so the position could monitor police investigations in real-time, and make suggestions to the chief of police and the mayor's office.
But others, like Tulsa District Six City Councilor Connie Dodson, felt the position should not be tied to the city. Instead, she said, the city should work with OSBI and an independent company to take a deep dive into numbers and investigations.
"You want people that understand the industry, have worked in the industry, educated themselves in the industry, to be part of that oversight, and that's not what we were getting," Dodson said.
Mayor Bynum is expected to bring his alternate plan to the council on September 25.
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