Within just the next few months, the North Alabama Multi Agency Crime Center (NAMACC) will be operating at the Huntsville Police Department. It’s a data driven system that police tell me will use technology to help them stay one step ahead of the criminal. Other local law enforcement agencies will also utilize the center.
“What you have is a crime intelligence center. It’s in several other jurisdictions in our state. Once we get ours, it will complete a circuit in our state that will help solve crime a lot quicker,” said Huntsville Police spokesman Lt. Michael Johnson.
Johnson explained that the new crime center will collect, analyze and disseminate crime-related information and intel in Huntsville.
A Metro Agency Crime center in Jefferson County opened in 2016. The one coming to Huntsville will be similar to it– with monitors connected to cameras throughout city, with software capability to do social and data mining.
“Some of this hardware equipment does include gunshot detectors, license plate detectors, LPR – license plate readers, and cameras throughout the city,” said Johnson.
To illustrate, Johnson explains how the system would help in nabbing a suspect in an Amber Alert situation.
“We will have the ability to look for this vehicle electronically, and we will get notified by the system that’s watching for the vehicle to come through our jurisdiction. Same goes for other jurisdictions,” he said. “Those jurisdictions will have that same information. And they will let us know when that offender or vehicle comes through their jurisdiction.”
The next couple of months will entail working to determine where to install the rest of the equipment that will help officers solve crime.
There are plans for a similar crime center to be built in Oxford.
