Atlanta, GA police officers have been among the first in the nation to utilize mobile fingerprint scanners. The devices, about the size and shape of a Blackberry, allow for a search function that finds outstanding warrants, missing persons report and protective orders. It checks the Secret Service's database for protective, probation and identity theft files, and finds electronic records on immigration violators, foreign fugitives, sex offenders, and suspected terrorists.
Thanks to a Federal grant for $1.2 million, 57 agencies statewide will be included in the program, which makes 120 devices available. Two dozen of these agencies are metro Atlanta law enforcement. The MorphoRap-IDs, as the scanners are called, pulled back 6,887 hits out of 13,589 checks so far in Atlanta.
Although some may feel the devices infringe upon their privacy, so far the Georgia Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has received no complaints. A person may refuse a finger scan, but an officer may require scans once he or she has decided to make an arrest. This often saves paperwork time, because eliminates the time it takes to go back and change paperwork if an inmate has given a false name.
Read more in the Police One article.
No comments:
Post a Comment