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"CSI: Crime Scene Investigation." A wall of television screens, containing live footage of the Utica police booking room and pole-mounted cameras as well as point-in-time locations of police calls and hotspot gun crime data.

UTICA It looks like something out of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."

A wall of television screens, containing live footagefrom the Utica police booking room and pole-mounted cameras, as well as point-in-time locations of police calls and hotspot gun crime data.

There also are elements that arent visible to the naked eye: technological connections among seven other related sites that promise the flow of crime information from more than 70 percent of the state, minus New York City.

Its the Mohawk Valley Crime Analysis Center to be officially unveiled Thursday at the Utica Police Department and its something that participating agencies say will assist them by enhancing the flow of information among law enforcement agencies as well as providing certified crime analysts to assist their investigations.

Michael Green, executive deputy commissioner of the state Division of Criminal Justice Services, said the Mohawk Valley Crime Analysis Center is one of eight in the state that will allow agencies to better investigate, reduce and prevent crime in a collaborative effort. He said the center also will be a real-time crime center with analysts monitoring 911 calls and police dispatches as theyre occurring.

If you look across the network and see what they do there are examples every year of peoples lives that were saved, Green said. Last year there was a kidnapping where the victims were rescued in large part because of information generated by a crime analyst. Literally, SWAT goes in and kicks the door down and saves them. There were also missing persons who are located quickly through the work of crime analysts.

The center will have a full staff of 10, made up of field investigators from local agencies, as well as certified crime analysts and a supervisor. The agencies involved are the Utica police, Oneida County Sheriffs Office, Oneida County District Attorneys Office,Oneida County Probation Department, New York State Police, the state of New York, and the state Division of Criminal Justice Services.

"The Mohawk Valley Center represents the states latest investment in the field of crime analysis and solidifies New Yorks Crime Analysis Center Network as an important tool to help police solve crime, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a statement. "Having this technology in the hub of Oneida County will usher in a new era of cooperation among law enforcement agencies and provide the resources they need to make the Mohawk Valley safer for New Yorkers.

The startup cost of the crime analysis center is about $280,000, an amount thats paid for by the state and state Division of Criminal Justice Services. The network with centers in Erie, Monroe, Onondaga, Broome, Albany, Niagara and Franklin counties and now Oneida County is supported by a nearly $6 million a year investment from the state and DCJS.Ongoing costs involving things such as staffing are paid for by the entities involved in each center.

Utica Police Chief Mark Williams said hes interested in modeling the center after practices he witnessed at the Monroe Crime Analysis Center in Rochester. He said its crime analysts, in the event of a shooting, visit investigators in the field to determine what kind of information they have, before going back into the office to begin their research. He said one crime analyst at the Oneida center will be focused on homicides and shootings.

(The crime analysts will) find out who the victim is, who theyre associated with, search for any suspect information as well as determine who cars are registered to, Williams said. Ultimately, theyll give that investigator a nice packet of information so they dont have to spend time researching, so they can actively stay on the street investigating that crime. Im really excited about this. I think not only can we solve crimes, but we might even in certain areas prevent crime as well.

Oneida County District Attorney Scott McNamara said he was hoping for something like the center throughout his career. Hesaid because of the analysis center, and the crime analysts who will be able to watch live footage from the citys 12 pole-mounted cameras, that the office is planning on buying eight more cameras with forfeiture money.

"(The center) can be utilized by any police department and I think as time goes forward we're going to see a lot of police departments utilizing their intelligence ability and data collection," McNamara said. "Looking at the city's pole cameras, we have the ability a lot of time to solve certain crimes, but the fact that ... we bought these cameras and no one watches them (in real-time), and thatthere's no real department within the Utica Police Department that really collects data they collect it, but dont store it in any way thats searchable ... I've always believed we were leaving a lot of info collected as law enforcement on the table where other people didnt know it and couldnt use it. I think for that it's very favorable."

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State to unveil Mohawk Valley Crime Analysis Center - Utica Observer Dispatch