West Seneca police nabbed a registered sex offender for indecent exposure after releasing

a photo taken by a Wegmans store.

Buffalo police arrested a woman suspected of stealing purses from area churches after

releasing a photo taken from a gas station's security camera.

Tonawanda police charged a man with bank robbery after releasing a photo from the bank's

security camera.

No doubt about it, there are more of these cameras in retail stores, banks, fast-food

restaurants and grocery stores today, making it more likely investigators will find a useful

image.

And just as important, the images are no longer blurred or grainy.

"Nothing beats a good picture," said Amherst Assistant Police Chief Timothy M. Green.

Surveillance footage that shows suspects robbing a bank or stealing a purse from an

unwitting customer is released through TV, the Internet and newspapers almost every day.

The clearest images prompt tips from the public, who may recognize a neighbor or co-worker,

and police say video and photo evidence can make or break an investigation.

"It was critical. That's how we really proved our case," said Alfred Police Chief Timothy

J. O'Grady, whose department relied on video to help catch a suspect accused of cashing stolen

checks in several counties.

Surveillance technology has improved in recent decades, with digital cameras and recording

systems replacing the analog-based systems of years past.

Digital images are saved to computer hard drives instead of recorded on video tape, and

generally speaking this produces a clearer picture of the crime.

"They're really good. They take really good images," said Erie County Sheriff's Capt.

Gregory Savage, who is with the Special Services Unit.

The quality varies. Some businesses still employ analog technology, others may not have the

best cameras in place and some rely on systems that automatically record over previous

footage, police said.

A few businesses don't even turn on their recording systems.

But if the systems are functioning, police often can obtain crystal-clear images.

In the case of the woman taking purses and wallets from churchgoers, a surveillance photo

led to her arrest last November.

One of the stolen credit cards taken from a stolen purse was used at a city gas station,

and police were able to get a clear image of the suspect and her car from a surveillance

camera, said Dennis J. Richards, chief of detectives for the Buffalo Police Department.

Police found the vehicle's registered owner, who said she had loaned the car to Sandra M.

Abrams, 36, who was eventually tracked down and charged.

"Having the vehicle information, that was a good tool for the police," Richards said.

Surveillance images were key in helping Hamburg police crack the case of a hit-and-run

driver who struck and killed a college student as she walked on South Park Avenue in October

2008.

Witnesses described the SUV that plowed into Meghan Sorbera. Hamburg detectives got their

break when they found a vehicle matching the description in the drive-thru of a nearby Mighty

Taco.

Police didn't get a license plate number, but they could see the vehicle and the driver's

face as he picked up his order, Savage noted.

They were able to trace the vehicle to John P. Duffy, who pleaded guilty to leaving the

scene of a fatal accident.

Cameras helped police make an arrest in the case of a thief who was cashing stolen checks

and using the money to buy thousands of dollars worth of merchandise and gift cards from

retailers in the Finger Lakes and the Southern Tier.

This case started when someone broke into an Alfred Station home on Jan. 4.

The thief used the stolen checks to buy American Express gift cards or high-end merchandise

that he returned for a cash refund, said O'Grady, the village police chief.

Police were able to determine which register the thief used at the stores — Walmart

and Lowe's Home Improvement stores in Genesee, Livingston and Wyoming counties — but he

always wore a disguise at the stores, O'Grady said.

However, when he used the gift cards, he did not, O'Grady said.

And cameras at the Walmart in Geneseo followed the suspect through the store, to his car in

the parking lot and when he took off his disguise and re-entered through another door.

Police arrested Ronald Rossborough, 39, of Alfred Station.

"We had that whole loop of video and we were able to tie him back to the burglary," O'Grady

said. "We knew who it was. He was our suspect from the beginning. He has a history."

Just in the past three months, suburban police have used surveillance videos to catch a

suspected bank robber, grocery store purse snatcher, flasher and shampoo shoplifter.

In that case, West Seneca police issued an arrest warrant accusing a Buffalo man of

stealing seven bottles of Head & Shoulders shampoo on Jan. 31 from a Rite Aid on Harlem Road.

Town police distributed a picture from the surveillance system to local media, including

The Buffalo News. The warrant charges Daniel Wolf, 40, with petit larceny.

"I got a couple of calls from people anonymously saying who he is," West Seneca Police

Detective Robert Bebak said.

Even if cameras don't provide a clear look at a suspect's face, they can capture a tattoo

or distinctive article of clothing that can lead to the perpetrator, said sheriff's Senior

Detective Alan Rozansky.

Seasoned criminals are aware of the cameras, and some do wear disguises to obscure their

identities, but a surprising number seem to ignore the fact that cameras are everywhere.

"It's so commonplace, people forget they're there," said Detective Tim Toth of the City of

Tonawanda police.

The technology has limits.

People expecting the kind of video-manipulation wizardry found on "CSI: Crime Scene

Investigation" and other cop shows will be disappointed.

Technicians could do more to enhance an analog image, Cancilla said, but with digital

technology what you see largely is what you get.

If a license plate is in a dark, or out-of-focus, part of a digital image, there's only so

much that technicians can do to zoom in or highlight it.

The Sheriff's Office's Computer Crimes Unit, however, can edit the footage to isolate a

particular person within the image, or separate each feed from a video that has multiple

camera angles running at once.