The NYPD is gearing up to buy cops a new high-tech device for their crime-fighting arsenal—mobile fingerprint scanners that will let them instantly receive a suspect’s criminal history, including mug shots, rap sheets and outstanding warrants.
The handheld gadget, about the size of a BlackBerry, can search state and federal databases for a fingerprint match. It can even confirm if a person’s DNA is on file.
Cops hope the device will help solve a problem that has long plagued the department—officers not having fast access to data about a suspect’s past.
NYPD brass have been sending people for training on the gizmos, which can also take photos, scan passports, and store 180,000 names of dangerous felons, according to police and industry sources.
But there’s one glitch: Cops aren’t sure if it’s legal to scan the prints of people who have not been charged with a crime.
“That’s something they’re looking at now,” said a police source.
(Source: NY Post)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
2 Responses
THIS IS HORRIBLE NEWS. there has been a tremendous amount of injustice caused to me by the police in my lifetime. this will only be used the wrong way by the wrong people.
Please correct spelling in title. I know it will disappear in a day or two but it is embarrassing. “NYPD gearing up to ‘by’? should be “NYPD gearing up to BUY….