Metro Area Crime Center

The Metro Area Crime Center (M.A.C.C.) is a multi-agency intelligence service created by Jefferson County Sheriff Mike Hale. His office began working toward sharing information between agencies in the early 2010s, but the official opening of the $1 million facility within the Sheriff's headquarters offices at 2200 Richard Arrington Jr Boulevard North in Birmingham was celebrated on October 26, 2016.

The Crime Center, funded by Jefferson County, currently partners with twenty area law enforcement agencies to share investigative resources and to monitor and collect security camera footage at the service's Video Center.

At the center's investigative "hub", law enforcement officers from each of the participating jurisdictions have access to state and federal criminal information databases, as well as a range of other tools such as CARFAX vehicle history reports and social media monitoring tools.

In addition to monitoring MACC's own mobile camera platforms which can be deployed to crime hotspots, public events and disaster areas, the service collects information on other publicly and privately operated security cameras so that law enforcement can identify and process possible sources of video evidence. It also monitors communications with people in custody of the Jefferson County Jail. In late 2018 the MACC Video Center began monitoring an additional 24 pan-and-tilt video cameras, 17 dome-type video cameras, and 54 license plate recognition cameras deployed by the City of Birmingham under an agreement with the Alabama Power Company. The new cameras were installed on utility poles in public areas in the Central Park, Ensley, Gate City and Kingston neighborhoods.

Participating agencies

• Adamsville Police Department
• Bessemer Police Department
• Birmingham Police Department
• Cullman Police Department
• Etowah County Sheriff's Office
• Fultondale Police Department
• Gardendale Police Department
• Homewood Police Department
• Hoover Police Department
• Hueytown Police Department
• Jefferson County Sheriff's Office
• Mountain Brook Police Department
• Shelby County Sheriff's Office
• Tarrant Police Department
• Trussville Police Department
• UAB Police Department
• Vestavia Hills Police Department

References

• Robinson, Carol (October 26, 2016) "Jeffco's new Metro Area Crime Center a 'game-changer' for cops and criminals, sheriff says." The Birmingham News
• Robinson, Carol (November 15, 2017) "Metro Area Crime Center marks 1 year of fighting crime." The Birmingham News
• Edgemon, Erin (September 25, 2018) "95 surveillance cameras to be installed in Birmingham's most crime-ridden areas." The Birmingham News

External links

• Metro Area Crime Center at jeffcosheriff.net