The Herkimer County Sheriff’s Department recently brought its digital fingerprint technology online, taking action before the state began refusing to accept “ink and roll” fingerprints in January.
Using $15,000 provided by the state Division of Criminal Justice Services, which issued the mandate to phase out ink prints, and an estimated $15,000 from the county, Sheriff Christopher Farber said his office installed two separate electronic printing technologies.
The LiveScan takes digital finger prints, which can then be submitted to the state. And CardScan is able to scan ink and roll prints from ID cards, transferring them to the digital format.
The reason for purchasing both technologies?
Farber said he anticipates providing the service to various smaller law enforcement agencies in the county, as well as offering the required technology for civil purposes.
Only the villages of Ilion and Herkimer and city of Little Falls police departments have the LiveScan technology, Farber said. All three departments used federal stimulus grant funds. But other police departments unable to purchase the technology are left scrambling to meet the state mandate.
Farber said his department will provide the CardScan service free to county police departments. If an arrest is made in a department without the digital scanner, they are able to send a card with the ink and roll print for submission into the CardScan, he explained.
The DCJS early last year provided over $105,000 in grants to allow five counties’ sheriffs’ departments, including Herkimer, to make the switch to digital, according to past releases. The shared service approach to meeting state mandates is part of the goal, officials have said.