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Albany police report falling gunshot alerts since January, plan LPR expansion and drone program to stretch staffing
Summary
Albany Police Department presented crime and technology updates: monthly crime reports ranged 561–665 (Jan–Apr), Raven gunshot detections fell from 306 in January to 194 in April, APD plans 24 new license‑plate readers contingent on grant funding and proposed a phased drone program to extend non‑sworn response capacity.
Chief Percy Johnson and Major Victor Camp briefed the City of Albany Commission on June 3 with a data summary of recent crime activity, staff recruitment and planned technology investments.
Chief Johnson said total monthly crime reports ranged from 561 in February to 665 in April, and the department reported a clearance rate as high as 89% for investigative cases in February. The city’s gunshot detection system, identified in the presentation as “Raven,” recorded 306 activations in January (attributed in part to New Year’s Eve activity) and 194 activations in April — a 36% decline from January, the chief said.
The department is seeking to deploy 24 additional license‑plate readers through a 2022 JAG grant should the commission approve the grant acceptance; Chief Johnson described LPRs, vehicle fingerprinting and live analytics as tools that have helped accelerate investigations and vehicle recoveries. He said the department will also expand a Camera Connect program that already includes more than 30 local businesses that voluntarily share camera access with APD.
On staffing and recruitment, Chief Johnson said APD hired 12 people in March who are scheduled for the July police academy; five recruits graduated May 23. Johnson said the department has been hiring aggressively but faces attrition and a competitive market for recruits, noting the academy now runs 20 weeks and limits training cycles. To address coverage gaps, the chief described using non‑sworn personnel to operate technology: “I can’t put a police officer on every corner, but I can just about put cameras on every corner,” he said, adding that drones and civilian‑run real‑time information operations are viewed as force multipliers rather than replacements for sworn officers.
Major Camp described the merged Albany–Dougherty Special Investigative Unit (SIU), formed from the former gang task force and drug unit, and said the unit recovered 107 guns last year while understaffed; this year through May the SIU had recovered 60 handguns, four of them modified with switches that make the weapons fully automatic. Camp said many gun cases are being adopted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office under Project Safe Neighborhoods when federal criteria are met.
Commissioners asked about the balance between visible patrols and technology, officer retention, and community engagement. Chief Johnson said the department will continue recruitment and retention investments while expanding community safety officer roles and civilian investigator positions to free sworn officers for street patrol.
