SACO — Fingerprinting at the Saco Police Department just got more efficient.
The department last month acquired a MorphoTrak LSS digital fingerprint scanner from the State Bureau of Identification. The machine was relocated from the northern part of the state, where it was no longer being used, said Sergeant Corey Huntress.
“It didn’t cost the taxpayers of Saco anything,” said Huntress.
Staff have been trained on the new machine, which has been in operation for a couple of weeks, replacing the old way of rolling fingers on ink pads and paper, said Huntress.
The machine also scans palm prints and what police call the “writer’s edge” ”“ the side of the hand, which is helpful in solving crime when such prints are taken at a crime scene.
The scanning process is a much more efficient way of collecting and processing fingerprints, said Huntress.
If a suspect comes to the police department under an alias, finding their real identity is now a much quicker process. Fingerprints taken in ink would have to be mailed to the State Bureau of Identification, and manually read to compare to fingerprints of possible suspects on file. This process could take weeks to a month, said Huntress. Now, fingerprints can be electronically uploaded to the State Bureau of Identification, and the process that used to take weeks now takes about thirty minutes.
“It’s a much quicker turnaround,” said Huntress. “It’s a better way all around for more accurate information, and that’s what we’re striving for.”
It also improves the fingerprinting process as fingerprints taken in ink can be subject to smudging. Additionally, information from criminal intake forms can be transferred to the fingerprint file, eliminating redundant information recording.
According to information from the FBI website, fingerprinting has been used as a way of identification for more than a century. The method is popular because of the ease in acquisition, the numerous sources ”“ 10 fingers ”“ available for identification, and its established widespread use, according to the FBI.
— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or egotthelf@journaltribune.com.
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