The Utica Police Department's Armadillo is back on the force. 

After being out of operation for approximately a year, the armored truck turned police surveillance machine has undergone a $24,000 upgrade, fitting it with six fixed-mount digital cameras and video equipment allowing for 360-degree coverage of the vehicle.

Mayor Robert Palmieri was joined by Councilwoman Maria McNeil and police officials as they unveiled the upgraded version of the Armadillo Wednesday morning on the 700 block of Lansing Street - an area where police say they've received over 60 service calls in the past month.

UPD officials, Mayor Palmieri, Councilwoman McNeil unveil upgraded Armadillo (Jeff Monaski, WIBX)
UPD officials, Mayor Palmieri, Councilwoman McNeil unveil upgraded Armadillo (Jeff Monaski, WIBX)
loading...

UPD Deputy Chief Ed Noonan says the Armadillo can now provide crystal clear LIVE streaming video to the department's command center, and to the cell phones of police personnel.

''You can see faces, license plates, buildings'', Noonan said. ''No we can put it out for upto seven days, whereas in the past we had issues with battery life and we could only deploy it for about three days.''

More From WIBX 950