Goshen, N.Y. – Orange County Executive Steven M. Neuhaus, District Attorney David Hoovler and Sheriff Carl E. DuBois attended an open house on Wednesday to celebrate the opening of the Hudson Valley Crime Analysis Center (HVCAC).
Michael C. Green, Executive Deputy Commissioner of the state Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS), Chairman of the Legislature Steve Brescia, Legislators Kevin Hines and Barry Cheney, and Orange County Commissioner of Emergency Services Brendan Casey also attended the event.
The Hudson Valley Crime Analysis Center is the ninth intelligence and data-sharing center established by the DCJS in partnership with local law enforcement agencies and will provide investigative support and information to help police and prosecutors in the region more effectively prevent, reduce and solve crime.
“We are very fortunate to be the host of this cutting-edge center which will provide a valuable tool to law enforcement,” Neuhaus said. “Orange County is vigilant about protecting our residents and the HVCAC will play an integral role in supporting local police agencies to help prevent and reduce as well as solve crime. It serves as another tool in helping to keep our community safe.”
Located in the Orange County Emergency Services Center in Goshen, the Hudson Valley Center serves 65 police agencies in the three-county area which includes 96 municipalities and more than 2,700 square miles. The Center began operations in March and presently has a staff of 14 full- and part-time crime analysts and investigators from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and county Emergency Services; Ulster County Sheriff’s Office; and police departments in the cities of Newburgh, Poughkeepsie and Middletown; the village of Montgomery and town of New Windsor.
Eric Johansen, HVCAC’s Director, worked for the City of Peekskill Police Department for 24 years, including the last five as Chief.
“The HVCAC in Goshen will go a long way toward enhancing the potential of our law enforcement officers and is a tremendous benefit to the region,” Hoovler said. “The Crime Analysis Center will allow law enforcement to collaborate on a variety of cases and has already played an integral role in solving crimes. This facility is indicative of how proactive Orange County is about protecting our residents.”
The State invested approximately $410,000 to renovate a 2,300-square-foot space within the Orange County Emergency Services Center to host the Center, which features a state-of-the-art video wall measuring 4½ -feet high by 20-feet wide that displays multiple sources of data and information in real time, including feeds from public surveillance cameras in the cities of Newburgh and Middletown, Shot-Spotter technology used by the city of Newburgh and computer-aided dispatch feeds from both Ulster and Orange counties.
Since launching operations, staff at the Hudson Valley Center have already provided valuable assistance to law enforcement. For example, their work has assisted with the investigation of a fraud case, helped police solve a bank robbery in the City of Newburgh, and identify and arrest an individual who was using social media to threaten and compel young teens to provide explicit photos of themselves. Collectively, the work done by staff at the Centers since the network’s inception in 2007 has assisted with the resolution of more than 2,500 cases.
“Technology and intelligence is an extremely component to solving crimes,” DuBois said. “The HVCAC is a welcome addition to law enforcement, and absorbs some or most of the tedious research that investigators sometimes don’t have enough hours in the day to do.”
The Hudson Valley Center operates Monday through Friday and will eventually expand operations to include evenings and weekends. Staff will also be assigned soon from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, New York-New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area and the New York Air National Guard, bringing total staff to 20. The Center is overseen by a 11-member Board of Directors with representatives from the police departments in the cities of Kingston, Middletown, Newburgh and Poughkeepsie; the District Attorney’s offices and Sheriff’s offices from Dutchess, Orange and Ulster counties; and the Division of Criminal Justice Services.
“The HVCAC is a great addition to our Emergency Services Center,” said Casey, who worked for the New York State Police for 30 years, retiring with the rank of Captain. “Our partnership with DCJS and the surrounding counties will enable local police departments to have access to the latest tools and technology that have become essential to law enforcement in today’s world.”
For more information, contact Justin Rodriguez, Assistant to the County Executive for Communications and Media Relations at 845.291.3255 or jrodriguez@orangecountygov.com.
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