The FBI launched a new Web site Wednesday aimed at helping to solve bank robberies in New York and New Jersey.
An unidentified man involved in the robbery of a bank in Buffalo, N.Y. on Tuesday. FBI agents posted the photo on their new site BanditTracker Northeast, in the hopes of soliciting tips. (BanditTracker)
BanditTracker Northeast features descriptions and surveillance camera footage of bank robbery suspects. FBI officials plan to post the information within hours of the crime in the hope that the exposure will bring in tips or new leads to help apprehend suspects. The new site will post information on bank robberies that occur in the 13 New York counties under the jurisdiction of the FBI’s New York City office and in 18 of New Jersey’s 21 counties.
“This website has proven to be a very effective tool for other FBI offices in identifying and catching bank robbers, and we expect it to be a great asset for New York,” Joseph M. Demarest Jr., head of the FBI’s New York office, said in a statement.
FBI offices in Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Texas, Chicago, St. Louis, Los Angeles and Washington D.C. have launched similar Web sites with some success. According to the agency, other BanditTracker sites have received more than 300,000 visits, with subject photos displayed more than 10 million times.
