Capital Region law enforcement showed off their newly-revamped tool Tuesday. The Albany Crime Analysis Center received a significant overhaul this summer. The center is headquartered at the Albany Police's South Station.
Sherff's departments, other city police departments, and even state police from the Capital Region can now tap into the Crime Analysis Center. It's helping make better investigations and quicker arrests.
Using new technology to compile data, cameras and leads, the center is aiming to serve a new wave of police work.
"We can make sure that, especially with our crime patterns, we stop them before they become more of a pattern," said Albany Police Chief Brendan Cox.
And though his department oversees it, the Albany Police Department is not the only agency benefiting from the center.
"It's something different for us," said Saratoga County Sheriff Michael Zurlo. "I mean, we've been involved for two months now in this."
Rural county sheriffs like Zurlo say data sharing has become a key part of detective work. The Crime Analysis Center lets agencies share that data almost instantly.
"If I have a lot of burglaries in my county, in a certain area, I can notify the center here," Zurlo said. "They can give me some crime-mapping, and pinpoint certain people that may be in that area also, parolees and people on probation."
First opened in 2009, the center got a $370,000 state-funded expansion this summer, allowing more agencies to join. State money goes to similar centers in Northern, Central and Western New York, too, connecting investigators from every part of the state.
But that ease of investigation creates concerns about overbearing surveillance.
"We're gonna set limits or agree to limits within each jurisdiction, to make sure everybody is buying in," said Michael Wood, the deputy commissioner of the NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services, "and that we're doing things properly and in compliance with the law."
Data in the Crime Analysis Center does not just deal with crime patterns and long-form detective work. In the past year, the center has used social media profiles, license plate numbers and similar criminal methods, all to identify suspects and make quick arrests -- even in crimes like home invasions and murders.