TPD Blog

TPD training is tested in cases of lethal force

By DAVID SCHULTE World Staff Writer
11/1/2008

To police officers, any hesitation when determining whether to fire their guns can mean the loss of their own lives or those of innocent bystanders.

And any unjustified shooting by police can lead to the wrongful death of another person.

Within the past two weeks, Tulsa police officers have had to make that fatal decision twice.

On Tuesday, Cpl. Matt Hart and Officer Phillip Forbrich killed Michael Julian Buck- nor, 25, when Bucknor reportedly refused to drop a gun outside the Cobblestone Apartments, 7643 E. 51st St.

Bucknor was a suspect in the shooting of Mahdi Ouni, 22, on Sunday in a parking lot at the Westminster Apartments, 4828 S. 74th East Ave.

Sex-crime offenders classified into tiers

By NICOLE MARSHALL World Staff Writer
11/2/2008

Police here say all tiers are held to the same standard.

One year has passed since Oklahoma began classifying sex offenders into a three-level ranking system that designates how long they must register their addresses with law enforcement authorities.

Creating the tier system was one step toward complying with the federal Adam Walsh Act by the deadline of July 2009 to avoid losing a percentage of the state’s federal funding.

Under a state law that went into effect Nov. 1, 2007, offenders are placed in tiers based on their numeric risk levels, which are determined by the type and severity of crimes for which they were convicted and the number of convictions they have.