At the August 4 meeting of the Hyattsville City Council, the council approved the purchase of an electronic fingerprinting system, which is expected to transform how Hyattsville Police do business.
In a memo from Alana Andrews, an evidence technician, Hyattsville currently processes criminal fingerprints through Prince George’s County Department of Corrections. Background checks are processed through University of Maryland. This because the State of Maryland requires electronic fingerprinting, which Hyattsville is not yet able to provide on its own.
By purchasing an electronic fingerprinting system, photographs and fingerprints can be taken locally, so that officers spend less time at the Department of Corrections booking people. Andrews says this allows them to return to patrol and answer service calls sooner.
The electronic fingerprinting system, Livescan, is expected to allow officers to correctly identify subjects who otherwise give a false identity. Andrews says the Hyattsville City Police Department also does not have a way of taking high quality photographs of arrested persons. The new system will allow them to create a database, as well as create photo lineups when necessary.
The purchase of Livescan, is not expected to exceed $29,774, with nearly $15,000 coming from the a Bureau of Justice Assistance grant.
