Rogers County Sheriff's Deputy Betty Shelby responds to protests

TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) — The Tulsa County Sheriff's Office is bringing in former Tulsa Police Officer Betty Shelby and many aren't happy about it.

A group rallied in front of the courthouse with signs that read, "Ban Betty" today. Rogers County Sheriff's Deputy Betty Shelby is responding to the criticism and is emphasizing the importance of the class itself.

Shelby issued a statement Monday night that said:

A critical incident is an event that happens to someone that will test the limits of their coping skills. I faced many challenges that I was unprepared for such as threats to my life by activists groups to loss of pay. My class is to help others by sharing some of the skills I used to cope with the stress of my critical incident. As law enforcement we experience many critical incidents throughout our career. These tools that I share are just a few to help them cope with the stress of the critical incidents they have had or will experience. My class is not about the shooting and I do not discuss the shooting.

Deputy Betty Shelby will teach a CLEET-approved class at the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office to law enforcement on "Surviving the Aftermath of a Critical Incident."

From 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Aug. 28, Deputy Shelby will teach a course that is described as teaching some of the challenges in dealing with the aftermath of a critical incident such as an officer-involved shooting, stating part of the class will focus on many of the legal, financial, physical and emotional challenges that may result from such an incident.

Shelby states say will not discuss the shooting death of Terence Crutcher in the class.

In an interview with Neile Jones in May, Shelby said, "I have a class that I teach to officers to give them the tools to survive such events, and it's a way of surviving financially, how to survive legally, emotionally and physically.... Our life is not the same. It will never be the same again. We have our new normal and that new normal has so many different aspects to it and it's what we live with."