New gadgets can be used in order to be able to take fingerprint identification from people while in the field.
Over the last year and a half, officers from the Napa County Sheriff’s Office have been using mobile technology in the form of fingerprint taking gadgets throughout many parts of the county.
This mobile gadget has two different capabilities that can be very convenient to the officers who use them.
These two functions for the mobile technology include electronic ticketing as well as fingerprint identification that can occur on the spot, in real time, no matter where the police officer happens to be. According to Technical Services Sergeant, Joseph Jones, who is responsible for overseeing this project, “It’s like two different applications running on your computer.” At the moment, there are nine of these mobile gadgets currently being shared by the Sherriff’s Office, among the police agencies throughout Napa County.
The main purpose for this mobile technology is for identification, and it is meant for specific scenarios.
Because it is essentially a mobile ID device, it is designed for certain specific circumstances and does not actually reveal everything about the person to the officer using it. Moreover, it will not identify every person whose fingerprint is scanned. In order for the mobile gadget to know who the person is, the fingerprint of the individual must match one that is already stored within the California fingerprint database.
It is important to keep in mind that this database doesn’t exclusively include the fingerprints of people who have been criminals. It also includes anyone who has been fingerprinted in the state for other purposes, such as in the case of higher security jobs. These include: nurses, teachers, police officers and coaches, among others.
This capability is important not only to make it possible for police officers to be able to identify people who have shown falsified ID cards or who are trying to hide who they really are, but it also makes it easier for officers to be able to identify and release people who don’t have official IDs on their person in order to prove who they are at the time.
Sherriff’s Captain Doug Pike explained the difference this mobile technology makes, because “The alternative options sometimes for identifying individuals in the field are very lengthy or time-consuming, so this product allows us to do that in a rapid manner.”
