FBI Upgrades Bank Robbery Website

The FBI has tracked bank robberies in major cities around the U.S. for many years. But this week it came out with a higher-tech, closer to real-time site for tracking robberies called BanditTrackerNortheast.The look and style of the site is similar to a residential realtor's - a rotating carousel showcases featured robberies with photos taken by security cameras and key facts about each incident the way realtors showcase homes. A Google Maps gadget displays the geographic locations of the robberies. Lately, there's been a concentration of bank break-ins in Buffalo.

According to the New York Times, Spectrum Management, a technology company based in Texas, created the site for the FBI for free. It set up the first BanditTracker in Dallas in 2007, and followed it with similar versions in Little Rock, Ark.; Indianapolis; Chicago; and Atlanta. Banks can send photos directly from their security cameras to the FBI site in the hopes of catching thieves quickly.