by Mike Knaak
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St. Joseph police will now be part of a joint powers agreement that will make crime-fighting easier after City Council action Jan. 16.
Police Chief Dwight Pfannenstein asked the council to approve the agreement with the Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office to share investigative data such as booking photos among a number of agencies in central Minnesota.
“If people are doing illegal activities in St. Jospeh they are doing it elsewhere,” Pfannenstein said. “We will be able to solve crimes quicker.”
The agreement calls for area law enforcement agencies to share intelligence information by identifying patterns and modes of criminal by using software paid for by Sherburne County. For example, if St. Joseph police have a security camera photo of a robbery suspect, the officer can use facial recognition software to match it with booking photos from other agencies in the joint powers agreement.
Other police departments already in the agreement include Waite Park, Sartell and Sauk Rapids.
