Homeless encampments are re-emerging at Oklahoma City sites that state troopers cleared a year ago under Gov. Kevin Stitt's Operation SAFE (Swift Action for Families Everywhere).

The state has spent more than $899,000 removing camps on state land in Tulsa and Oklahoma City since the sweeps began in September 2025, as KGOU and The Frontier first reported. But the cleared sites have not stayed empty.

The Frontier found blankets, sleeping bags and other belongings near the Interstate 235 overpass on NW 23rd Street, blocks from the state Capitol. On Wednesday, Sept. 30, a couple with three dogs was sheltering from rain under the overpass and told The Frontier they planned to sleep there. Tents were also spotted near the South Western Avenue and I-40 interchange and by Larry McAtee Park at Crystal Lake.

What the numbers show

Oklahoma City fared differently from Tulsa and Norman because the state agreed to pay up to $800,000 for housing and services here. Stitt had previously opposed using tax dollars to house people experiencing homelessness.

During the October 2025 sweeps, 47 people in Oklahoma City were housed. Only nine people camping on state property declined the offer. As of Thursday, Oct. 1, 40 of those 47 remain in state-funded housing, according to a Key to Home spokesperson.

Key to Home, the city's public-private partnership of more than 50 organizations, had housed nearly 700 people and families and closed 35 encampment sites as of Aug. 20, according to an Oklahoma City government press release. About 11% of those helped have returned to homelessness, KOSU reported.

Oklahoma City's January 2026 Point-in-Time Count recorded 1,867 people experiencing homelessness, a 1% decrease from 2025 and the first reduction since 2022, according to city data. Chronic and unsheltered homelessness has dropped 42% since 2022. Unsheltered homelessness fell from 35% of the total in 2022 to 22% in 2026.

Camps return, tensions rise

Meghan Mueller, CEO of the Homeless Alliance, told KGOU the stakes felt enormous when the sweeps hit Oklahoma City. "It did feel really high stakes," Mueller said. "It felt like if we don't pull this off, this could really set us back."

In August, Key to Home closed a large encampment along Virginia Avenue just west of downtown, where nearly 80 people had been living. From that site, 55 people moved into housing and 20 had pending move-ins. The effort involved the Homeless Alliance, Mental Health Association, City Rescue Mission, Oklahoma City Housing Authority and other partners.

Jamie Caves, strategy implementation manager for Key to Home, said in August that the program provides permanent housing rather than displacing people from one location to another.

The state, meanwhile, sent letters to the Oklahoma City and Tulsa police departments in August warning it would seek legislation to recover cleanup costs if the cities did not enforce camping bans. According to letters from State Chief Operating Officer David Ostrowe, the state spent $375,701 clearing encampments in Oklahoma City and $523,873 in Tulsa, KOSU reported.

No new sweeps planned

Oklahoma Highway Patrol Lt. Mark Southall said there are no plans for additional Operation SAFE sweeps anywhere in the state. Tevis Hillis, a spokesperson for Stitt, said in a statement that lasting progress after the sweeps requires local leaders to address public-safety challenges and maintain gains on state property.

The state has not disclosed how much it spent repeatedly clearing one encampment in Norman, where troopers returned three times over four months.