Beckley Police Department
To Serve and Protect
LIve Scan Fingerprint Biometric Identification System
Beckley Police obtain state of the art live scan fingerprint biometric identification system
The Beckley Police Department has recently implemented a new piece of equipment that allows for the electronic capture of fingerprints, palm prints, mug shots and descriptive data such as scars and tattoos. This biometric identification system was obtained through the 2009 JAG Recovery grant secured by our agency.
This biometric station allows us to link with the West Virginia State Police and immediately transmit information related to our arrests. This provides other law enforcement agencies with access to this arrest information in a shorter time frame than using standard ink and ten-print cards and having to mail these in. The information gathered builds on a state criminal offender database maintained by the state police. This database will provide us with quicker notification if the person is wanted, which generally will be either the same or next day; whereas with ink cards it may take two to three months between mailing and entering of the prints into the system before notification.
The fingerprint scanner will allow us to immediately check the identity of an offender who has fingerprints on file within the state database. If a criminal provides a false name upon arrest and they were previously arrested, we will receive a confirmation within 5 to 10 minutes of who they really are.
The benefits also include more comprehensive and better quality prints, by way of reducing smeared or bad prints and mistakes in the printing process. Fingerprints obtained are also not just limited to the fingertips as before. We now additionally capture the palms which make a significant percentage of prints left at the scene of a crime. This alone can have a large impact on the solvability factor of a crime.
This is just another effort by the Beckley Police Department to keep up with new and evolving technologies that not only make our work more efficient, but also is an information sharing tool between state and local agencies.