Police sweep park area
Warrants, patrols response to rising violence
By Donna Hales
A group of 20 or 30 people slowed them down, throwing water and bottles on them.
Officer Greg Foreman got hit in the back of the head with a bottle. Officer Ken Hughey ripped the hide off two fingers on cement. He was wrestling to get a guy’s arms out from under him, Farmer said.
“They couldn’t get the guys who assaulted them, Farmer said.
Police had to go back and take control — the neighborhood was at risk, he said.
Police were surprised at how many neighborhood citizens thanked them for being there. Some flagged them down to thank them, Farmer said.
“It made us feel a little better — we aren’t used to getting much thanks,” he said.
Before the Saturation Patrol ended, the team spread from Seventh Street to 32nd Street, south of Okmulgee Avenue to Border Street and ended up going north to Martin Luther King Street, Farmer said.
Team members conducted driver’s license checks, aggressively patrolling the area, “stopping everything we could get a stop on,” Farmer said.
The six-day effort resulted in:
• 78 citations issued, ranged from carrying a concealed weapon to speeding.
• 10 felony arrests and 20 misdemeanor arrests.
• One accident worked.
• Seizure of drugs, three firearms and $1,965 in cash.
• Serving $10,913.80 in outstanding county warrants and $3,814 in city warrants.
All team members have other police assignments, usually investigations or patrol.