Oklahoma Law Enforcement Museum and Hall of Fame

05/30/2026

05/29/2026

If you are attending the Route 66 Capital Car Cruise in Tulsa this weekend, keep an eye out for the 1937 Oklahoma Highway Patrol cruiser.

05/16/2026

Steel Gloves Serve as Prisoner Handcuffs

(Research provided by Lyndall Cole.)

In early 1924, Phillips County Sheriff Jacob “Jake” Oliver McKenzie of Phillipsburg, Kansas invented a new style of high security handcuffs for prisoner transports. Sheriff McKenzie received his inspiration for his unique invention after a prisoner grabbed his gun during a transport and in the ensuing struggle shot Sheriff McKenzie in the leg. These new handcuffs were basically steel gloves that a prisoner would slide their hands into, limiting the prisoner’s ability to grasp anything with their hands. The innovative sheriff received a patent for his steel gloves in March of 1925, for what would become known as McKenzie Mitts. (A man named John Bushey wrote an informative article about these McKenzie Mitts in 2011.)

One of the best known and most popular Tulsa County deputy sheriffs in 1925 was James Alexander Sewell. On Tuesday, March 24, 1925, Deputy Sewell was transporting three inmates to their respective correctional facilities. Daniel Scott, 14, was being transported to the Pauls Valley industrial school, and the other two prisoners, Howard Love, 16, and Ernest Hughes, 20, were being transported to the Oklahoma Reformatory in Granite, Oklahoma. After dropping off Scott, Sewell proceeded on towards Granite with Hughes and Love. During the drive to Granite, while Deputy Sewell was removing his coat, one of the prisoners grabbed his gun and shot him. Deputy Sewell died several hours later after the two prisoners left him beside the road, near a farm house.

Both, Love and Hughes, were later apprehended after a state-wide manhunt and charged with murder in Grady County where the shooting had occurred. Both defendants blamed each other for shooting, but Howard Love was convicted of the actual murder of Deputy Sewell. Both men received a life sentence.

In 1926, because of the death of Deputy Sewell, Sheriff Bob Sanford purchased steel gloves to cover the hands of inmates during transports to protect his deputies. “They are steel gloves which will be used on desperate criminals. They fit over the hand of the criminal and prevent his reaching for or using a weapon. The gloves are quite light and do not injure the hand, the sheriff said. They cost $25.” (Tulsa Tribune, January 28, 1926.)

I believe the steel gloves purchased by Sheriff Sanford in 1926, was McKenzie Mitts. Shown below is a pair of these steel gloves in an ad in the December, 1927 issue of Popular Mechanics magazine I was able to purchase. This ad appeared on page 976.

05/15/2026

04/21/2026

Happy 89th Birthday, OHP 🎉 🎈 🎂 🥳

On April 20, 1937, Governor E.W. Marland signed House Bill 26, creating the Department of Public Safety. The Bill also authorized the Department to have three divisions; Highway Patrol, Registration, and Traffic Control.

The legislature attached an emergency clause to the bill making the new law effective immediately.

04/09/2026

Please keep our brothers & sisters in brown in your prayers tonight. Today, Trooper Vernon Brake died following a collision in Oklahoma City . . . 🙏🏼 🤎 💙 ❤️‍🩹

It is with deep sorrow the Oklahoma Highway Patrol announces the line of duty death of Trooper Vernon Brake.

On April 8, 2026, at 11:27 a.m., a vehicle traveling southbound on I-35 lost control for an unknown reason and crossed the center cable barrier. The vehicle struck Trooper Brake, who was traveling in the northbound lanes just south of Hefner Road in Oklahoma City.

Trooper Brake was pronounced deceased at the scene. The driver of the other involved vehicle, along with a four-year-old passenger, were also pronounced deceased at the scene.

Trooper Brake was a graduate of the 56th OHP Academy in 2006 and has proudly served the Oklahoma Highway Patrol for nearly 20 years, with a significant amount of time assigned to Troop S (commercial motor vehicle enforcement). After his graduation from the academy, he also served in Oklahoma and Logan Counties.

Trooper Brake is survived by his wife and two children.

Our prayers and deepest sympathies are with his family as well as the family of the other driver involved.

OHP's Traffic Homicide Unit (THU) is conducting the investigation into the crash.

03/20/2026

Oklahoma Law Enforcement Museum and Hall of Fame Ceremony - Saturday - March 14, 2026 - Photos by Stephanie Lounge, OCPD