With crime a top concern for many New Yorkers, police across the state are utilizing all the tools in their arsenals to maintain public safety. After spotting and pulling over an Albany shooting suspect's vehicle Wednesday on the state Thruway, state police fatally shot a man who fired at them.

Rakim Tillery, 35, was located quickly Wednesday afternoon with the help of a New York state law enforcement analysis network. His vehicle matched the description of one wanted in connection with an attempted homicide in the city of Albany.

Tillery's vehicle may not have been located if it wasn't for the Capital Region Crime Analysis Center, which officials said played a critical role in identifying and tracking the suspect and his vehicle, which was pulled over in Ramapo, in Rockland County.

It's part of a larger network created by the state's Division of Criminal Justice Services to improve on inter-agency communication. There are 10 centers in the network spread out across the state. Shootings are just a part of their work, which is often done behind the scenes.

The network of law enforcement resources and its capabilities were put to the test Wednesday in Albany. Comprised of 32 civilian staffers and others from partner agencies like the FBI, the Capital Region Crime Analysis Center stays prepared.

“When we see a significant incident is happening, we can jump on that right away and start supporting them in real time,” said Todd Wiess, director the center, which routinely assists law enforcement in Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga and Schenectady counties.

The centers bring together more than 450 agencies on the federal, state and local levels.

“Our goal really is to bring resources and assets together that they wouldn’t be able to maybe have on their own,” Wiess said. “We’re fortunate enough to have access to LPRs – license plate readers, – municipal cameras, and we’re also provided access to RMS systems, which is a records-management system that gives a lot of information.”

The technology came in handy Wednesday.

“Within minutes, the Crime Analysis Center had identified a vehicle, had identified the license plate and was following the vehicle on city cameras through the City of Albany,” Albany Police Department Chief Eric Hawkins said.

The center's work extends beyond some of the more high-profile criminal activity.

“If an agency is dealing with retail theft, if an agency is dealing with opioid overdoses, those are the kinds of things where we can support and be a force-multiplier for those agencies,” Wiess said.