While other jurisdictions endure unrest and riots following police-involved shootings and racially driven homicides, Tulsa, Oklahoma has remained quiet, thanks in large part to the leadership of former police chief Chuck Jordan and the relationships he built throughout the Tulsa community.

His stint as chief marked the culmination of a 50-year career. Jordan, the son and father of police officers, entered the academy in 1969 and worked 32 years with the Tulsa Police Department. After retirement, he moved on to become the Regional Commander of the United Nations Civilian Police Mission in war-torn Kosovo, where he led an international force of more than 1,200 officers. Following that experience, he returned to the U.S. and joined the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office, where he was eventually was promoted to the rank of captain. In January of 2010, Jordan was appointed Interim Chief of the Tulsa Police Department and confirmed in that position several months later. Chief Jordan remained with the Tulsa Police Department until his second retirement in 2019.

Chief Jordan sat down with The Beat, the COPS Office’s podcast series, to share insights and perspectives gained over his long and storied career. Jordan discusses leading his department through several high-profile shootings that threatened to reopen hundred-year-old wounds from the Black Wall Street Massacre in 1921, the single worst incident of racial violence in American history. With a career spanning the turbulence of the late 1960s through the present, and two countries with very different views of law enforcement, Jordan’s interview with The Beat is illuminating. Find the episode on The Beat’s webpage, discover the episode on Apple Podcasts, listen to/download the MP3, or read the transcript.

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