Curtis Killman

Tulsa World Reporter

Tulsa Police Chief Dennis Larsen on Tuesday defended his department’s handling of the city homeless population amid criticism from Gov. Kevin Stitt.

The governor has had harsh words for the city and its Police Department since he launched Operation SAFE — an Oklahoma Highway Patrol-led effort begun last week to clear homeless people from highway underpasses, rights of way and other state-owned properties.

Stitt says that he took the action at the insistence of Tulsa business leaders, who he claims told him that they were receiving “zero help from the mayor, from the police in Tulsa.”

But Larsen, during a meeting Tuesday with the Tulsa World Editorial Board, doubted the veracity of that sentiment.

“I don’t think that’s true,” Larsen said when asked

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