Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform is thrilled to announce our latest report, "The Hidden Crisis: How Poverty Drives Crime in Rural Oklahoma".
The geographic realities of poverty are driving crime in rural Oklahoma. Over 600,000 Oklahomans were estimated to live below the federal poverty line in 2022, and a high percentage of those struggling families are concentrated in rural communities. Historically, academic research into criminology has focused on population-dense urban communities, but this approach fails to account for the complexities of a state like Oklahoma. According to federal definitions, 42 of Oklahoma’s 77 counties are defined as rural. Any serious examination of public safety in Oklahoma requires a focus on the nature of crime in these under-resourced and often overlooked regions.
Between 2012 and 2022, property crime decreased by 32 percent in Oklahoma. Violent crime decreased by 11 percent in that same time period. Unfortunately, these positive trends have not been experienced evenly statewide. Although violent crime has fallen 11% in Tulsa and 21% in OKC since 2018, there are small towns in Oklahoma that have seen an increase in violent crime by nearly 35% in the same period. Some rural Oklahoma communities experience per capita rates of violence as high as some of the highest-population cities in the nation. A rural Oklahoma Sheriff's office faces about four times the violent crime on average as urban Sheriffs. What is driving this disparity? Why is rural Oklahoma being left behind when it comes to crime? A detailed examination of the challenges faced by rural Oklahomans is critical to developing an evidence-based community safety strategy for a 21st-century Oklahoma.
Crime and the Impact of Jobs on Rural Oklahoma
The number of farms in Oklahoma has decreased by 18% over the last twenty years, while the percentage of the workforce in agriculture and related sectors has declined by 20%. As part of a broader national trend manufacturing jobs in rural America have declined nearly 25 percent since 2000. When families struggle to keep food on the table or to find a quality job with basic benefits an entire community is impacted. The research is clear. Community safety is strengthened by wealth, resources, and opportunity. The consolidation of family farms and the replacement of higher-wage manufacturing and energy sector jobs with lower-paying service sector and retail jobs has had a significant impact on crime in rural communities.
Data suggests that a largely overlooked side effect of endemic rural poverty is violent crime. Studies show a positive relationship between poverty and violent crime in rural areas, with economic shocks and demographic changes increasing violence. Some small towns in Oklahoma have experienced a 4% population loss including an 11% decrease in individuals aged 18 - 24. This exiting migration is driven by young people seeking better job and education prospects elsewhere. The population decline exacerbates economic challenges, increasing vulnerability to violent crime and community instability.
Research also demonstrates higher rates of victimization among low-income rural populations. Approximately 26.7% of women in rural Oklahoma experience intimate partner violence, with rural IPV often being more severe than in urban areas. Rural victims face significant challenges in accessing resources, with some traveling over 40 miles for services. Distance from resources leaves far too many rural families trapped in conditions that those in larger communities can often more easily escape.
Rural Oklahoma’s Mental Health and Addiction Crisis
The need for behavioral health services in Oklahoma is substantial. 824,000 adults in Oklahoma experienced mental illness in 2021. 192,000 adults in Oklahoma experienced serious mental illness in 2021, and 494,000 adults in Oklahoma needed, but did not receive, treatment at a specialized facility for substance use in 2021. A massive percentage of these underserved Oklahomans are located in rural Oklahoma. As of 2023 37 of Oklahoma’s 78 rural hospitals were at risk of closure. Cities that don’t even have an emergency room are unlikely to have mental health treatment beds. It is clear that Oklahoma’s mental health and addiction crises are driving the majority of the crime in rural Oklahoma.
Rural individuals are 54% more likely to struggle with methamphetamine abuse, and opioid-related deaths are significantly higher in rural counties. Substance abuse, especially methamphetamine and opioids, poses a severe threat to rural communities. Addressing substance abuse in rural areas is crucial to improving public health and safety. Co-occurring mental illness and addiction disorder only exacerbate these issues. About 60% of individuals using methamphetamine report having any mental illness, with one in four methamphetamine users reporting having a serious mental illness. Dual diagnoses of mental illness and substance abuse drastically increase the risk of fatal and non-fatal overdoses. These policy challenges are particularly acute in rural Oklahoma. Comprehensive mental health and substance abuse treatment are vital to reduce these risks.
Contrary to stereotypical perceptions, rural communities also face racial disparities in their criminal legal system. In many small Oklahoma towns, Native Americans and African Americans are overrepresented in drug arrests. Native Americans make up 17% of the population but 22% of drug arrests, while African Americans constitute 5% of the population but 20% of drug arrests.
In 2022, rural municipalities in Oklahoma reported narcotic violations at a rate four times higher than urban centers. This disparity is attributed to selective enforcement rather than differences in drug use rates. The higher rates of drug enforcement in rural areas highlight policing biases and the need for equitable law enforcement practices. These disparities underscore the need for addressing racial biases in law enforcement and the broader criminal justice system exists not just in urban communities but across rural Oklahoma as well.
Rural Oklahoma Cities Face Unique Crime Challenges
A collection of small towns in Oklahoma have significantly higher crime rates than the State average, and some rural Oklahoma communities experience per capita violence rates comparable with some of the most violent cities in the nation. Both the average property crime rate and the average violent crime rate are much higher in these small towns than Oklahoma at large.
OCJR’s research has identified 9 rural Oklahoma communities experiencing a homicide rate over double the Oklahoma average. The homicide rate in these 9 small towns is higher than Oklahoma City. 40% of the homicides recorded in 2022 within these communities involved a family member, and some of the most rural counties have a violent crime rate three times higher than demographically similar counties. Perhaps more distressing in many of these rural Oklahoma cities on average around 66% of the violent crimes go unsolved. Rural law enforcement has limited resources to battle the addiction and mental health crisis facing these communities. A critical shortage of treatment beds, therapists and mental health professionals statewide only increase the challenges faced by law enforcement.
These towns are dedicating more law enforcement resources to battle substance abuse issues in the community, but the data reveals an effect that may be worsening the likelihood of crime. The percentage of arrests dedicated to drug abuse crimes is on average 1.5x higher in these areas compared to the Oklahoma average. This emphasis on substance abuse enforcement has several negative downstream effects. Native Americans and African Americans are consistently over-represented in law enforcement responses to substance abuse in these towns. On average Native Americans represent 17% of the population in these communities but account for 22% of drug arrests. The disparity is even worse for African-Americans who make up only 5% of the total population but represent 20% of all drug abuse arrests. While the analyzed towns have a much higher percentage of Native Americans, they are nonetheless still over-represented in drug arrests at a higher rate than the State Average while African Americans are over-represented by 400%. These immense disparities worsen community safety across rural Oklahoma.
Conclusion
The prevailing myths about rural economies being isolated and resistant to change simply aren’t supported by the facts. Rather, economic restructuring, shifts in employment sectors, and an addiction and mental health crisis have wreaked havoc on low-income families in rural Oklahoma.
These trends can be altered. Rural landscapes are dynamic, constantly evolving, and shifting as larger economic trends change the nation. Rural Oklahoma communities have faced a persistent impact from the 2007-2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession. Small towns in Oklahoma are also still facing the impact of a deadly opioid and methamphetamine crisis and the lingering effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. These events created an economic maelstrom acutely felt by rural families, and this left an impact on violent crime rates. By targeting more resources toward a handful of small relatively lower-population Oklahoma towns policymakers could shift the trajectory of crime statewide.
Rural violent crime in Oklahoma deviates from urban trends, with family violence playing a significantly higher role in smaller communities. An absence of treatment options often exacerbates this violence. In Oklahoma, 1 out of every 5 adults experiences a mental illness while 1 out of every 10 adults has an active substance abuse disorder, two of the highest rates in the country. In 2022, nearly half a million Oklahomans could not access a needed treatment bed. Rural law enforcement utilizes the tools they’re given, and the data make it clear that rural law enforcement needs better tools than just prisons and jails to resolve the state’s addiction crisis.
Expanding mental health and substance abuse treatment options, particularly in underserved rural areas, is paramount to curbing the intersection of these issues with violence. Sustaining and expanding funding initiatives like SQ781 can significantly contribute to bolstering treatment resources. Specialized treatment courts play a crucial role, and their expansion, coupled with necessary statutory changes, can enhance accessibility and effectiveness.
Each county in Oklahoma deserves a drug court, an evidence-based mental health treatment court, and an array of low-level misdemeanor diversions. The failure to fund and locate these resources in rural Oklahoma is making rural families demonstrably less safe. Prioritizing pretrial diversion options for individuals with behavioral health needs is essential for those struggling with addiction to keep them in jobs and housed in the community with their families.
Oklahoma has an opportunity to lead the nation on rural innovations that strengthen economic power for rural families while simultaneously reducing crime. Promoting economic stability in rural areas requires targeted efforts, innovative pilot programs, reduced barriers to housing, employment, and education, work to stabilize and support family farms, and leveraging tax credits and other policy tools to incentivize the employment of system-impacted individuals. There are over 1.2 Million Oklahomans with a conviction history that makes it harder to keep food on the table. Policymakers must address the unique challenges faced by rural communities in Oklahoma, fostering comprehensive strategies that intertwine public health, criminal justice, and economic development to create a more secure and prosperous future.
