In my 31 years of speeding through OKC interstates, I can count on zero hands how many times I’ve needed help from the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.
That being said, I’d need both of my hands—and probably an abacus or two—to count all the times I’ve had to slam on my brakes and look in the rearview mirror after spotting a trooper with a radar gun parked under an overpass, or worse yet, driving 62 in the middle lane on I-44 during rush hour.
As a result, I guess you can’t blame me for celebrating like a drunk driver heading up I-35 after an OU football game at the exciting news that, effective this November, state troopers will no longer patrol highways in the OKC and Tulsa metros!
Instead, they’re going to entrust motorist harassment, selective law enforcement, and speed trap stings to the hands of overworked and understaffed municipalities!
Via News 9:
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol is expected to hand off its duties on November 1 in the OKC metro and Tulsa, leaving several police departments scrambling to find resources to patrol interstates within their city limits.
OHP said it is shifting troopers to focus on higher-need areas across the state. Department leaders are now frustrated with the timeline they've been given to carry out the changes.
In a press release last week, OHP announced they were reassigning troopers away from interstate highways in OKC, Tulsa, Norman, Moore, Edmond, Midwest City, and Del City.
Wow. Isn’t that awesome?!
Sure, there’s a chance this is all just simple posturing from the OHP in a calculated ruse to get their hands on more state funding—but this is incredible news! I’ve long dreamed of OKC’s interstates becoming a virtual autobahn, and this puts us one step closer to that reality!
For some reason though, instead of shutting down I-35 for illegal street races to celebrate, politicians, police forces, and the local TV news media are treating this news like a four-alarm crisis!
For example, State Senator Mark Mann—a guy who’s probably cruising down Hefner Parkway right now blissfully unaware his right blinker’s been on since May—is asking Attorney General Gentner Drummond to get involved to stop it:
Sen. Mark Mann has asked for an attorney general's opinion after it was announced the Highway Patrol would cease providing law enforcement services in Oklahoma and Tulsa Counties this fall. Read the full press release: https://t.co/RSeUZM96SS pic.twitter.com/zJ5iSzq0W7
— Oklahoma Senate Democrats (@OKSenateDems) July 9, 2025
Come on, Democrats?! What are you doing here?! Aren’t you supposed to be the anti-law enforcement, hands-up, ANTIFA, take-a-knee, defund-the-police party? We should be helping the OHP pack up Troop A, not trying to get their buddy Gentner involved! That’s insanity.
Instead of being excited that they have new roads to bother and annoy people on, the police chiefs in OKC, Del City, and elsewhere are mad about it, too. They think the added responsibility will lead to longer response times:
Despite a limited two and a half miles of interstate spanning his city, Del City Police Chief Loyd Berger says he was faced with a hiring freeze, and his department's resources are limited.
"We will suffer for it. We will get out there and do our best, but it's the citizens of Del City that will suffer too, because they may be delayed in getting an officer to them because they are up on the interstate for a couple of hours at a time," said Berger.
Hey, I know I-40 takes a weird angular route through Del City, and it can be tricky to figure out if you need to take the Sooner Rd. or 15th Street exit, but is that really going to matter? Big deal—it’ll now take 35 minutes for a Del City cop to respond to a domestic disturbance instead of the standard 30.
As expected, most local police forces are mad they’ll have more work to do and have made sure their friends and buddies in the local TV news media are very aware.
As a result, they’re spinning the amazing news that there will be fewer highway patrolmen on metro speedways like it’s a bad thing—treating it like a full-blown public safety emergency. In fact, things have grown so controversial that OHP had to bring in Paul Finebaum’s deformed clone to discuss it during a press conference!
Although I think this is cool news, like I said, it feels more like a stunt by the OHP to lobby for more money. Basically, I won’t believe it until I don’t see a trooper on the Crosstown bridge giving someone a ticket.
Either way, we’ll keep following the story and provide updates as they come in.
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised.
P.S. – Just to calm your nerves, I knocked on wood several times while writing this article, so I doubt I’ll be needing the help of the OHP anytime soon.
