Deputies at the Tulsa State Fair are looking for anyone who might want to cause trouble and they’re using more than their eyes.FOX23’s Abbie Alford shows us how the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office is using cameras to find bad guys.
As Corporal Jeff Organ’s cameras on his patrol car scans licenses plates and alarm goes off.
“it's that black car right there."
The alarm went off almost immediately after passing the black Pontiac.
"You get a return in about three seconds," says Organ.
The deputy learns the driver of the car has a warrant for Failure To Appear in a Kansas court.
"Everytime it beeps it just ran a tag," says Organ.
The system scans tags for any state and scans bad guys.
"Stolen vehicle, stolen license plates, wanted subjects who has warrants," says Organ.
However, the cameras are looking for more than that.
"It will check for any missing person or endangered person, abducted person," says Organ.
And for sex offenders.
"It is not illegal for a sex offender to be at the fair but it is a tool to know where that person is and what they are doing and we can keep an eye on them and if they are casing for other victims we can recognize that hopefully put a stop to it," says Organ.
That puts one mother at ease.
"That makes me feel better as a parent to have my kids out here," says Lisa Chancellor.
Because you never know who is inside the gates.
"The first night I was out here for an eight-hour shift and I ran 9,000 tags," says Organ.
Nine thousand tags and no arrests from that sweep. However, deputies now have that information which could be used of any of those tags and the vehicles’ descriptions are connected to crimes in the days to come.
"I have run possibly 15,000 tags and taken a picture of every car and every license plate."
This is something that can help reassure every parent that the fair is as safe as it is fun for their family.
"If the fair wasn't safe we wouldn't come," says Chancellor.
If deputies get a hit on a car at the fair a deputy will sit up on the car and wait for the person to return and possibly make an arrest.
This system is also being used for patrol. During the first trial week deputies arrested two people for stolen vehicles and got in a pursuit with a person driving a stolen motorcycle. That person was also arrested.
The Sheriff’s Office is testing the scanner for a month. If they do purchase it each camera system will cost $19,000. However, the cameras are mobile and can be placed on any patrol car.
