New York State - Division of Criminal Justice Services

November 2009 – A targeted patrol of the Delaware Avenue and Whitehall Road areasfor a rash of larceny of, and from, motor vehicle. Three arrests for stolen motor vehicleswere made, and those suspects were also found to have committed – and werearrested for – eight burglaries.November 2009 – A detail surveiling known offenders of vehicle theft and larceniesresulted in one arrest.Crime mapping has allowed the department to identify areas that have a highoccurrence of motor vehicle theft as well as a map where these vehicles are beingrecovered. Crime mapping also provides police with a snapshot of the most commontypes of stolen vehicles. Along with trends, crime mapping also helps the agency trackdecreases in crime after arrests of known offenders in a particular area (generally areasthat known offenders reside). This in turn provides us with ideal areas to focus ourenforcement (vehicles running unattended), recovery and educational (“Take Your KeysWith You”) efforts.The Albany Police and the Crime Analysis Center noticed an unusually highoccurrence of stolen vehicles from the area of Whitehall Road/Hackett Boulevard beingrecovered in the South End of the city. As an officer was taking a report for a stolenvehicle from the area of Whitehall Road, several officers were steadily patrolling theneighborhood and subsequently located the vehicle occupied. After a short pursuit,subject was taken into custody and admitted to several larcenies of motor vehicles aswell as larcenies from motor vehicles. Crime mapping also allows the agency to locateknown offenders of particular crimes and their proximity to areas where similar crimesare occurring.Task Force Meeting/TrainingThis year, representatives from the Albany Police continued to attend severalmeetings and held several training sessions that have helped the agency develop bestpractices when dealing with Motor Vehicle Theft and Insurance Fraud. In March theAlbany Police Department hosted the Capital District Auto Theft meeting which washeld at the Albany Jewish Community Center. Speakers included Albany DistrictAttorney Brad Sherman who provided an overview of the theft of catalytic converters,which occurred in the Town of Colonie. The IFB presentation covered updatesregarding insurance fraud. Also covered were the capability/ limitations of GPS systemssuch as Tom Tom and Garmin. During the 2 nd Qtr of 2009 representatives from theAlbany Police Department attended meetings with the MVTIFB to discuss investigativestrategies. During these meeting select department members received training whichwas disseminated to other Albany PD Auto Crimes members to enhance theirinvestigative techniques. During the 3 rd Qtr of 2009 select members also attendedseparate meetings with the Albany Count DA’s office regarding insurance fraud andpolicy development. Seven officers were added to the Albany Police Departments AutoCrimes Unit after they attended a 4 day Auto Crimes School which was held at theNYSP Academy in Albany, NY. All members of the Albany Police Department receivedformal training on the ELSAG License Plate Reader. During the 4 th Qtr of 2009NYS DIVISION OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE SERVICES MVTIFP BOARD / ANNUAL REPORT 2009 Page 78