Bynum, however, didn’t appear to search outside of Tulsa PD, recommending four candidates from within the department. Panel interviews with the candidates were closed off to the public, who were instead given an informal reception to try and speak to the potential chiefs. Bynum ultimately selected the sole black person in the running, Franklin.

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Franklin, who hails from North Tulsa, a historically black section of the city, said his background has shaped his views on policing, and that he is “intentional” in his outreach as a police officer.

“I am fearful but because I don’t want to mess up,” Franklin said about the new position. “I know what the expectations are and I know I won’t be able to meet everyone’s expectations, but you know I want to move our department forward.”

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But some black Tulsans are concerned about Franklin’s record when it comes to addressing racism on the police force. Referring in 2003 to a discrimination lawsuit filed by black police officers in 1994, Franklin denied that he ever experienced or witnessed racial bias within the department.

“(Franklin) is on record as being against the lawsuit brought by black officers,” Gregory Robinson II, director of family and community ownership at the Met Cares Foundation, told Tulsa World. “We want to see if he would renounce that position.”

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At a community policing forum held last Friday, Franklin also defended police use of force.

“There are evil people out there and we touch them on a daily basis,” he said.“And some of us have a difficult time enduring, some of us stumble, some of us fall, we fall under the weight of applying the words that are written on paper, applying those words sometimes with force.”

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And just as concerning to police reform advocates, Franklin spoke in support of Live PD upon his promotion—casting further doubt that the city’s contract with the show will be canceled.

“Where else can I for free as a chief of police, show transparency? Where else can I showcase the work of what TPD is doing on a national stage?”

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Underlying the disappointment in Franklin’s selection is the sense that Bynum cast him in the position for the optics: the city’s first black police chief, a homegrown hero coming into one of the most powerful positions in Tulsa as it approaches the 100-year anniversary of the destruction of Black Wall Street.

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“It is intellectually dishonest and disingenuous to believe a black chief alone can eliminate racism from a police department, just like it was naive to assume merely having a black president would eliminate racism from America,” said Dr. Robert Turner, Pastor of Historic Vernon AME Church. “It would help if the new black police chief would even admit that TPD has a problem with racism, something he has yet to do.”

Mayor Bynum categorically denies that race played into his decision-making.

“Chief Franklin was hired because he is the best leader for the Tulsa Police Department moving forward,” the mayor told The Root in a statement. “He is a 23-year veteran of the Department who has a demonstrated personal commitment to community policing, he is passionate about innovation, and he is known as a strong team builder who sets high expectations and holds the team accountable.

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“Attempts by some to characterize his selection as having anything to do with his race do a real disservice to a career of hard work and service to our community,” Bynum continued. “He earned this opportunity on his own merits, and he will be a great Chief of Police.”

Bynum has been greatly concerned with repairing Tulsa’s reputation during his tenure—and addressing the city’s traumatic racial history has been part of that. Among his most well-known initiatives is his commitment to uncovering the sites where hundreds of black Tulsans were buried during the 1921 massacre, widely regarded as the worst event of racial violence in U.S. history.

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But on top of reconciling with the ghosts of Tulsa’s past, Bynum had a chance to ensure a fairer, juster and more equitable future for black Tulsans, says Tiffany Crutcher. His failure to hire a progressive, reform-minded chief signals a hollow commitment to racial reconciliation in the city.

“Tulsa does not need another symbolic gesture that emits the image of resolving racial tensions,” Crutcher said. “Tulsa needs tangible and radical reform of its police department, and a police chief whose career has demonstrated a willingness and ability to implement the policies necessary to accomplish it.”

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