Technology speeds up crime-fighting; NYPD's crime center analyzes data to quickly identify suspects.(Main)

Byline: TOM HAYS Associated Press

NEW YORK - After an armed bandit held up a pizza joint in Manhattan late last year, he learned a lesson about the NYPD's latest take on the long arm of the law.

Witnesses reported seeing "Sugar" tattooed on the back of the man's neck as he made his getaway. It was a tiny clue, but tailor-made for a team of detectives manning banks of computers in a windowless room deep inside police headquarters.

A check of the NYPD's tattoo database led to a quick identification of a suspect and an arrest. Police officials considered it another triumph for a 24-hour monument to 21st Century policing: the Real Time Crime Center. …