Published: April 19, 2023 | Last Updated on August 6, 2023, 3:06 AM
OKLAHOMA CITY — Operation Keeping Oklahoma City Rails Safe (or KORS) is now in effect to address concerns about injuries and deaths along railroads, especially impacting people experiencing homelessness.
The Oklahoma City Police Department (OKCPD) is responsible for carrying out the project in the City of Oklahoma City.
KORS is funded by a $120,000 Federal Railroad Administration (or FRA) grant approved in March 2023. All the grant money pays for overtime shifts for officers.
In a 2018 Report to Congress, the FRA identified trespassing on railroad property as the leading cause of rail-related deaths in the country.
Oklahoma City’s incident rates of trespassing casualties increased 77% from 2017 to 2019 and an additional 18% from 2019 to 2020. The full application document with this information is embedded below.
Oklahoma is one of 10 states with the highest incidence of rail trespass casualties and was given preference by the FRA for this grant.
MSgt Mark Sexton, assigned to the Traffic Investigation Unit, and Federal Railroad Administration Law Enforcement Liaison, has been integral in the process of securing this grant.
“We have to do something to start saving as many lives as we possibly can,” Sexton said.
To address these concerns, OKCPD plans to prioritize education, enforcement of citations, and identification of “hot spots,” or vulnerable communities with a history of railroad injuries and deaths.
Homeless population most affected
The department is in the beginning stages of this 16-month process, and there has already been significant progress in identifying key impacted communities.
An FRA study confirmed that the majority of people who die or are injured on railroad tracks are experiencing homelessness. The OKCPD Homeless Outreach Team is offering its services and education to people living in homeless encampments near the tracks.
“Let’s help get these people back on their feet, but first we’ve got to get them off the tracks so they’re not dying,” Sexton said.
Homeless Alliance Executive Director Dan Straughan said this is an issue they’ve seen first-hand in people experiencing homelessness. One of their past clients had lost both his feet from falling asleep with his legs on the rails.
First, we’ve got to get them off the tracks so they’re not dying.
MSgt Mark Sexton, Oklahoma City Police Department
Straughan said there may be many factors contributing to this issue like the rise of the general population in Oklahoma City and a lack of awareness of resources offered like overnight shelters, mental health care, and substance abuse care. An ideal approach, according to Straughan, is one that addresses multiple parts of the issue, instead of focusing on issuing citations.
“One of the things that we as a community have not invested in as much is this principle of street outreach where case managers are going out onto the street and engaging with unsheltered homeless people to determine what their barriers are for getting back into housing and then figuring out a way through those barriers,” Straughan said. “Something like KORS has the potential to be an element of that.”
OKCPD’s Homeless Outreach Team has been at the forefront of recent initiatives and is one of many groups working to reduce the city’s homeless population in the next two years, as a part of a “housing first” plan.
Straughan has been impressed with the work of the Homeless Outreach Team and is encouraged by their involvement in KORS, stating they’re “well-versed in the continuum of care for people experiencing homelessness.”
A worst-case scenario, according to Staughan, is OKCPD initiating sweeps of homeless encampments without warning, without regard for personal belongings, and without any education about resources.
“With the Oklahoma City Police Department, that seems to be very unlikely,” Straughan said. “That is just not the way they operate.”
OKCPD shares a similar sentiment.
“It’s really just about people’s lives,” MSgt Sexton said, “In my opinion, rolling in there with a S.W.A.T. team and arresting everybody is not only not applicable, but it’s not the right thing to do. Let’s really try to educate these people and find out how to do things a better way.”
The Importance of Education
The FRA has identified several factors contributing to this uptick in trespassing, including the rising rate of homelessness. Some of these factors are a lack of physical deterrents, insufficient resources, failure to prosecute trespassers, and a lack of education on the dangers of railroads.
“Studies have found that people who are living on the tracks or within close proximity or walking along the tracks have no idea that they’re trespassing,” Sexton said.
Approximately 90% of Oklahoma City’s railroads lack a physical barrier indicating private property, states the grant application.
According to Sexton, installing signage is not cost-efficient and has a record of fast rates of destruction. Within 30 days of a chain link fence being installed along a Burlington Northern track, there were already signs of vandalization and destruction.
It has become clear to officials that they have to think beyond signage and fences in how they approach education and awareness.
OKCPD has teamed up with Operation Lifesaver, an organization specializing in the protection against injury and death on train tracks. Operation Lifesaver is providing educational materials free of cost to officers to distribute to pedestrians.
“Instead of just putting people in jail, we want to educate and inform them,” Sexton said.
In the coming months, officers will join the Homeless Outreach Team and distribute these materials to people living in homeless encampments. Sexton said officers will allow several days for people to pack up belongings and move to another location.
A Threat to the Community
Oklahoma City has more than 81 miles of main-line railroad tracks and is home to two major Class 1 railroads – Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad Yard (BNSF) and Union Pacific Railroad Yard.
Railroad company representatives have estimated that roughly 60 to 80 trains travel through Oklahoma City each day. That number is growing as supply chain issues increase.
Freight trains will often make stops or slowdowns on the track to allow for crew swaps. Those trains may stop for hours or days. Pedestrians will approach trains without knowing when they will move again. Although most of those affected are unsheltered, not all are. And, any pedestrian is at risk.
In 2021, University of Central Oklahoma football player Derek Loccident crawled under a stopped train to cross the tracks. The train began moving and cut off Loccident’s left foot and six inches of his leg.
An emergency like this can be dangerous on several levels. When an engineer sees a potential hazard, they hit an emergency brake. According to Sexton, a sudden stop could derail a train, which could cause millions of dollars in repair costs and significant environmental damage.
In February 2023, a train carrying chemicals and combustible materials was derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, setting off explosives, igniting a fire, and releasing toxic materials. According to The Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the chemical damage led to the evacuation of residents and resulted in the deaths of an estimated almost 3,000 fish.
A Step Forward
The hope for the KORS project is to work toward a future with fewer injuries and deaths on and around train tracks, approaching the issue with less of an emphasis on punishment and more on education, especially when working with the homeless community.
This grant allows for a deeper dive into the research of railroad trespassing to consider all contributing factors like rising rates of homelessness and amount of train traffic and aims to address the severe impacts of railroad safety like injuries, deaths, and environmental damage.
Zoe Elrod covers events and happenings around Oklahoma City for Free Press bringing her skill as a reporter and photographer. Zoe has spent her career covering local musicians, artists, politicians, and everyday folks.
