Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Deputy Davine Hopkins loves the community she serves, and seeks to better it.
“As police officers, we are here to help,” Hopkins said. “We are here to serve our community.”
Hopkins grew up in Oklahoma City, and wasn’t the type of person who knew she wanted to be a police officer. She did always see a future in the legal field though, even working as a paralegal during high school.
However, college just wasn’t for her. So her original plan of being a lawyer was no longer the goal.
Instead, Hopkins joined the sheriff’s department. After 22 years, she’s had her fair share of roles within the agency, including working at prisons and schools. Now, Hopkins often finds herself as the bearer of bad news as she carries out evictions on behalf of the Oklahoma County Courthouse.
Balancing serving her community, while at the same time evicting people can be tough, but Hopkins seeks every opportunity she can to ensure she’s helping people.
Hopkins set out at 8 a.m. Oct. 28, allowing Oklahoma Watch to join for a ride along. She had a lengthy list of evictions, but was still energetic.
At the first stop, Hopkins approached and knocked on the door of a tenant’s rental home. She was serving a forcible entry and detainer notice — the official term used in civil court for an eviction.
A forcible entry and detainer notice alerts the tenant that the landlord is pursuing legal action to regain possession of the property. It is one of the first steps in the eviction process, coming after a notice to pay or quit, which gives the tenant five days to pay or vacate before an eviction is filed.
“You are one missed bill or paycheck away from being in the same situation,” Hopkins said, referring to how precarious many people’s financial situations are.
Hopkins explained the forcible entry and detainer to the tenant, and provided them a sheet of resources for housing, shelters and other needs. She crafts these resources by working with housing agencies and homeless shelters within the Oklahoma City community.
In Tulsa, an administrative order from the courthouse requires every eviction notice to be accompanied by a resource sheet provided by the Landlord Tenant Resource Center, which includes advertisements for legal aid, a QR code for a free bus pass to get to court and information about rental assistance.
The resources assist in getting tenants to court, and advertisements for legal aid allow them to access legal resources that many tenants do not have. It is not required in Oklahoma County, but Hopkins still provides resources to tenants.
“In each situation, I treat everybody the same, I treat everybody with compassion,” Hopkins said. “I treat you like a person, just like I am.”
At one home she visited mid-morning, the air was thick. The dimly-lit house smelled of cat urine and fecal matter. Cans scattered the floors and trash piled up. Hopkins carefully navigated the house with Sheriff’s Deputy Monique Dan.
Clearing the house ensures the safety of the officers, the landlord and anyone else who may enter the property.
Hopkins, Dan and other Oklahoma County Sheriffs have reason to be concerned for safety. In 2022, a man shot at deputies serving an eviction notice, killing one and wounding another. Last year, when Dan was carrying out an eviction, an elderly man poured gas on the floor, and lit a fire in the house. He hurled the gas can at Dan, caught himself ablaze and ultimately died in the fire.
After checking the house, Hopkins taped a lockout order to the screen door of the rental property.
The lockout order legally returns the property back to the landlord, who then can change the locks, make repairs and clean the rental property for the next tenants.
Hopkins’ first approach is to treat everybody as a person, she said.
“At the end of the day, I have a job to do,” Hopkins said.
Jake Ramsey covers evictions, housing and homelessness. Contact him at (405) 370-3798 or jramsey@oklahomawatch.org.
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