Bixby Police Say The City's Surveillance Cameras Help Solve Crimes

By Lori Fullbright, The News On 6

BIXBY, OK -- New York City police were able to look back for clues at recordings made by 80 of its city surveillance cameras near the suspicious SUV after Saturday's foiled bombing attempt in Times Square.

The City of Tulsa has 140 cameras, but all of them are at intersections used for traffic flow and none of them are recorded.

The same holds true for the Oklahoma Department of Transportation's highway cameras, so police would have to depend on video from cameras owned by private companies.

But the city of Bixby's city camera system can and has helped solve crimes.

The Bixby Police Department monitors its 12 traffic, park and city hall cameras from the police dispatch center.

They have cameras at every intersection from 101st and Memorial to 161st and Memorial. There are also cameras in Washington-Irving, Charlie Young and Bentley city parks, along with cameras throughout city hall.

Not only can they watch them live, in real time, but they are all recorded and the footage kept for about two weeks.

"If you have a time frame, we can go back, recreate, look at what vehicle may have been in that area at the time and might be able to figure out more about the driver or the occupants," Captain James Kite, Bixby Police Department, said.

The cameras can also turn 360 degrees and zoom in, which News On 6 anchor Lori Fullbright learned in a little experiment.

"She should be pulling up somewhere here," said Captain Kite.

She drove away from the police station in the News On 6 unmarked, silver Honda Pilot news vehicle and went down the road just a bit and pulled into the Walgreens parking lot, then called her photographer.

"If you look straight out your windshield, you can see us, yeah, yep," Jeff Popkess, News On 6 photojournalist, said.

Officers like them because a dispatcher can see what's happening during rolling domestic violence calls or robberies and can be the officers' eyes so they know what they'll be getting into.

"It's an officer safety tool, they know what's going on prior to getting there and they like that," Captain Kite said.

The cameras are mostly used after a crime. Investigators look at the footage to re-create an accident or get information like New York officers did after the bombing attempt.

"We use them all the time to piece together crimes, they are of extreme value," he said.

Bixby bought the camera system with Homeland Security money about six or seven years ago. They hope to keep it going and even add more cameras in the future.

Bixby officials say they feel like this is the wave of the future and has gained a lot of credibility in solving crimes.