Detectives say this year’s homicide rate could end up averaging one a week.
Since January, there have been 23 murders and 21 of those cases have been solved.
Compared to the last five years, the homicide rate has remained fairly the same.
However, in 2008 there were only nine murders through the end of April.
In a Solving Problems investigation Fox 23’s Abbie Alford did some digging and found where the murders are happening and where they’re happening is changing in Tulsa.
On average detectives say there are about 55-65 homicides a year.
In North Tulsa, known as the most notorious area for murders, is actually getting safer.
From 2005 to 2008 the number of murders have dropped from 30 to 17 a year.
East, west, Midtown, Brookside and Downtown Tulsa remain fairly consistent.
In the South, however, the number of people being murdered and where they are happening is changing.
In a one-mile square radius around the 71st and Yale area, there were seven homicides from 2005-2008.
The majority of the murders in that area are happening in apartment complexes.
This truly is a hot spot because when you get outside of this area murders drop dramatically.
Police say the people who live in this area take fighting crime seriously.
May 2008-two men were gunned down at the Coppermill apartment complex near 71st and Yale Avenue.
One of the killers is still on the run.
However, tucked behind the complex is a quiet neighborhood where Darrel Ingmire and his wife Ellen live.
Ingmire says the reason it’s quiet is because of the Alert Neighbor signs.
"The more visible you are, the more effective we are. We want to keep that from getting any closer. It's close enough now and it's a big concern," says Ingmire.
So every weekend night, Ingmire and the Citizens patrol unit roll out and cruise the streets, cruising the murder zone looking for anyone suspicious.
"Observe, record and report,” says Ingmire. "We are an extra set of eyes for the Tulsa Police Department."
Homicide detective Sergeant Mike Huff says this is what more neighborhoods in South Tulsa need right now.
"You see south of Interstate 44 which there is a population shift. You see different clusters and you see these reflect groups of apartment complexes and some neighborhoods that are going through some transition and not necessarily for the better," says Huff.
