SAND SPRINGS, Okla. — Sand Springs is the latest city in Tulsa County to install a brand of crime-fighting traffic cameras, after previous actions by Tulsa, Jenks, Coweta, Catoosa, and the county itself.
The cameras are designed to only track cars belonging to a suspect in a crime, or a car reported stolen.
You may not see it when passing by, but that's exactly what Flock Safety cameras are designed to do, as Sand Springs Dep. Police Chief Todd Enzbrenner explained to 2 News Tuesday.
"When a car is reported stolen or a suspect vehicle's tag number is entered into the system on a hotlist, we just have to wait on the cameras to tell us where they are. We don't have to look for them," he said.
Through its machine learning software, Flock Safety's website claims a 97% success rate recognizing license plates, car models, and even a car's markings.
Sand Springs City Council approved six cameras placed around city limits for $18,000, according to Ezbrenner.
The deputy chief said since installations on June 1 and 2, there has been near-immediate success.
"On the 5th we made an arrest using the Flock cameras," Enzbrenner said. "We recovered a stolen U-Haul and a stolen motorcycle that was in there. We arrested two people. And then on the 10th we had another stolen car come into town. Our guys were alerted to it, found it, (and) arrested the driver."
Enzbrenner said both arrests came at Quik Trip on Wilson Avenue thanks to pings at two different Flock cameras at different sides of the city.
Gabriella Aguero visits Sand Springs often and is sold on the idea.
"I think that's pretty neat," Aguero said. "At least it doesn't seem to be too much of an invasion of privacy. It helps people that have reported stolen cars."
Other drivers like William Porter of Tulsa wonder if the added vehicle surveillance could be a slippery slope.
"I feel like it could cause just more of mistakes," Porter said. "But I'm not saying it can't help, but I feel like it also could just make more traffic stops that are just unnecessary."
Enzbrenner insists the trackers will prove worthwhile without violating anyone's privacy.
"(License plate records) are not retained. They're not sold to anybody as a third party vendor," Dep. Chief Enzbrenner said.
"They're not even used. So the only time anyone is captured or retained is if (the vehicle info) is already in the system."
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