BEAUMONT, Texas — It's been one year since the shooting at Rogers Park in Beaumont that left three people wounded.
Bullets started flying in the family-friendly area and this led to Councilman Mike Getz to push for a change.
RELATED: Beaumont mayor, councilmen call for more security cameras at public parks after Rogers Park shooting
Getz believed cameras would deter criminals and help Beaumont police solve more cases.
"I was a proponent then and I remain a big proponent of cameras. Because I spoke up the city listened and installed this camera here," said Getz.
Rogers Park did have cameras before but they were temporary and only used during election season according to Getz.
Now 10 cameras are being used in Rogers Park, eight are in Alice Keith Park and four other parks around the city have multiple cameras too.
This all comes after the shooting took place and left Beaumont police with no way to put the person responsible behind bars.
"The case is still open, we have a suspect but unfortunately we couldn't get cooperation from any of the witnesses. So we didn't have enough to file the case with district attorney's office," said Beaumont Police Department Assistant Chief Jason Plunkett.
Plunkett said if there's not a witness, the police need visual evidence. Which is something that Rogers Park didn't have at the time.
"We've gotten lucky over the last couple of years. We were able to solve a lot of cases because we had video," Plunkett said.
Now visuals won't be an issue at Rogers Park and the additional parks that also had cameras installed in March.
The Beaumont parks with cameras include:
- Rogers Park- 4 license plate readers cameras, 5 360 cameras covering community center and parking lots
- Central Park- 2 license plate reader camera, 1 360 camera covering parking lots and restrooms
- John Paul Davis Center- 2 license plate reader cameras, 3 360 cameras covering entrances and community center
- Alice Keith Park- 3 license plate reader cameras, 5 360 cameras covering multiple facilities and parking lots
Getz told 12News this is just the beginning.
"On all public buildings that the City of Beaumont owns, there are going to be cameras. We're also going to be trying to work with BISD to allow us to tap into their camera system and any private resident that wants to be integrated will have the opportunity as well," he said.
The cameras cost the city just shy of $60,000 according to Getz.