Page 16 - Brian Bates News Today

Carmax. start here. this is robinson avenue, south robinson avenue in oklahoma city. its notorious not only here in oklahoma city but really all over the globe, especially through the internet, for the availability of street prostitutes. >> with video camera in hand, brian bates is trying to drive prostitution out of his hometown, oklahoma city. >> this is the most notorious area right in here for prostitution and all kinds of criminal activity. a lot of them live in these little flophouses ar...

Hunts point avenue in new york city. sunset boulevard in los angeles. las vegas boulevard in sin city. in any major metropolis, theres a place thats notorious for prostitution. but in oklahoma city one man is trying to force the worlds oldest profession out of his neighborhood. hes got a video camera, an internet connection, and a lot of guts. and hes putting the hookers and their johns on notice. ♪ >> it was in my neighborhood. it was in my front yard. it was at my neighborhood grocery store,...

Father, with a teenaged son living at home. if brian can see it, kids can, too. and what kind of parent would want their children to see this? >> no child should have to grow up where their memories of childhood involve prostitutes, drug dealers, and pimps. >> in the mid-90s, brian bates first notices lewd behavior in his neighborhood and files reports with the police. but he feels his complaints fall on deaf ears. so he decides to do something about it. he picks up his video camera and takes to...

Im just a security camera that moves around. >> it starts out as just a man and a video camera, but quickly grows into something much bigger when this regular guy turned video vigilante sees how powerful the camera can be, exposing hookers and the men who pay for them, drawing them out of the shadows. >> do you want to go to jail? >> i can do something that in a lot of cases an entire police force and millions of tax dollars cant do, and thats scare the bejesus out of the prostitutes and the joh...

Realize that. >> i get people all the time say, brian, why prostitution? why dont you go after the murderers? the drug dealers? the child rapists? why dont you go after those people? well, im here to tell you, those people are our prostitutes and our pimps and our johns on south robinson. these arent pta moms making a few extra bucks. these are hardened criminals. >> out on his beat, bates has seen it all. armed robberies, drug deals and violent crimes. on this day driving his normal route, he w...

>> the john is getting out. very large, black male. hes getting out. and something odd happened at that point. the police officer did something ive never seen a police officer do. he had his gun drawn. but he approached the man, literally putting it inches from his head. and says, "im going to fing shoot you right in the head." >> brian stands just feet away, keeping his camera trained on the action and watches at that officer gets more and more physical with the john. >> down to the ground. >> ...

>> the oklahoma city district attorney wont press charges against the cops, but the video grabs headlines nationwide, and bates says that was a real turning point in his friendly relationship with the oklahoma city pd. >> up to that point i think the police really looked at me as being on their side, and when i released this tape and was critical of the tape, things changed, and they change ed dramatically in my relationship with the police. >> despite his rift with law enforcement, nothing will...

Know, a bunch of birds scattering, these girls start to take off in different directions. >> a rival pimp and prostitute arrive on the scene. and they are an angry. as they chase one girl, baits realizes shes in serious trouble. >> take this. >> he asks someone to hold his camera, and he jumps in. >> literally, you have this girl who is down on the ground with another prostitute holding her hair, beating her in the face. the pimps beating her too. and cars arent even stopping. theyre just kind o...

Squad cars in that parking lot before they finally got this guy handcuffed and in the back of the truck and hauled him away. >> the oklahoma city district attorney wont press charges against the cops, but the video grabs headlines nationwide, and bates says that was a real turning point in his friendly relationship with the oklahoma city pd. >> up to that point i think the police really looked at me as being on their side, and when i released this tape and was critical of the tape, things change...

Your top stories this hour. thousands of shiite men this weekend are joining iraqi militant forces as sunni militant groups have taken control. george h.w bush is heading to the gulf as president obama considers possible military options for iraq. and the israeli government says three missing teens including a u.s. citizen were taken be aterrorist group. the three were abducted on thursday. more news later. now back to "caught on camera." brian bates is no law man. he isnt a police officer.