Last week, Oklahoma lawmakers examined an interim study on interagency coordination for police safety titled Deconfliction: Coordination Between Agencies to Ensure Safety for Police. Led by Rep. Eric Roberts, R-Oklahoma City, the study focused on preventing operational overlap among law enforcement agencies to enhance officer safety and improve resource efficiency.
Detective Van Keuren of the Oklahoma City Police Department described a 2024 incident in Mustang during a human trafficking operation, where multiple agencies nearly interfered with each other’s work due to simultaneous undercover operations. The event underscored the need for a unified deconfliction system that all agencies use and report to accurately, as per the Oklahoma House of Representatives release.
Donnie Anderson of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics explained that deconfliction protects officer safety and investigative integrity. The system, established in 1996 and integrated into the Texoma High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program in 1999, recorded nearly 16,000 deconflictions in Oklahoma in 2025.
Keith Brown, Director of HIDTA, stated that agency leadership is responsible for ensuring the system is used properly. Captain Jeremy Yurton, with the Internet Crimes Against Children task force, noted that deconfliction helps identify overlapping investigations by matching tips related to the same suspect, address, or device.
According to the Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training (CLEET), larger agencies generally comply with deconfliction protocols, while smaller or non-participating agencies remain a concern. CLEET emphasized the need for compliance and warned of potential consequences, including hearings or revocation of law enforcement credentials for intentional violations. Deconfliction training has been included in programs such as the Sheriffs Academy and Chiefs Academy to promote broader adoption.
The review follows the earlier failure of House Bill 1862, which aimed to improve interagency coordination. Rep. Roberts expressed his intent to continue pursuing the issue, with plans to revisit the proposal during the 2026 legislative session.
