Tulsa Police wants to team up with homeowners and business owners to help solve more crimes in the city faster.
TPD's Real Time Information Center has cameras all across the city, and the department would love people to register their cameras to the network.
Police say the way it works is if there is a crime like a burglary, robbery, or homicide in your neighborhood, Tulsa police can send a mass email to everyone who has registered their cameras. Then, if you have a video that could help, you send it directly to the police. Businesses could even give police live access to their outdoor cameras.
Police say the Real Time Information Center has already been a major success. They say it's helping them shorten the time between when a crime happens and the arrest.
"What it allowed us to do is really use precision policing to know exactly who we are looking for,” said Captain Jacob Johnston with Tulsa Police, who supervises the Real Time Information Center.
Captain Johnston says they are encouraging homeowners and business owners to register their cameras to help expand the video network. He says this will give police more eyes around the city to help solve crimes quicker.
"Think about your large box stores, shopping centers, anywhere there's going to be a large gathering of people. Having the ability for us to see what's happening in real time has been critical in helping us in our response to calls,” said Johnston.
Johnston says a few apartment complexes are already sharing video, and it helped police make an arrest in a domestic shooting case just this week. Police say Albert Deloach shot at his girlfriend and then took off. Police were able to get a video of the shooting, which led to the tag number and Deloach's arrest.
"It really helps us identify who the suspect is, what we need to be looking for, and we are not wasting resources by setting up on an apartment complex when we now know the suspect isn't even there,” said Johnston.
To register your cameras, go to TulsaPolice.org, then click on the Real Time Information Center page and register there.