New License Plate Reading Cameras In Sand Springs Help Catch Criminals

Sand Springs Police now have six license plate reading cameras that can help police find criminals faster.

They have been up for more than a week and police said the cameras are already helping them make arrests.

Sand Springs Police said having Flock cameras has led to a 70 percent drop in property crime in some cities.

The six cameras in Sand Springs can read license plates, and if the plates match what's been entered into the National Crime Information Center Database, police can find out almost immediately.

“So if a stolen vehicle passes one of those cameras, it takes a picture of it and sends an immediate alert to our police officers,” said Todd Enzbrenner, the Deputy Chief of the Sand Springs Police Department. “Instead of sitting on a street somewhere and waiting for an hour, two hours, or six hours, for this car to come by, we can wait for the cameras to tell us that it came by."

Enzbrenner said in the short time these cameras have been up, they've helped.

"As a result of that, we've been able to catch two people in stolen vehicles and recovered three stolen vehicles just since June 2nd,” said Enzbrenner.

The cameras can also help officers know if a criminal wanted in another state, might be passing through Sand Springs, if one of the cameras reads the license plate of the fugitive's vehicle.

"You could basically track that tag number across the country, based on who has cameras and who doesn't,” said Enzbrenner.

Enzbrenner hopes people will invest in security cameras of their own at their homes and businesses that can help police reach all parts of the city.

"Plus, they're just fantastic,” said Enzbrenner. “You can share them with every police agency, or if a homeowner's association wants to get them, they can get them, and share their cameras with us so we can see them, and they're amazing."

The Police Department hopes to add more cameras, after seeing how successful these have been.