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Grant provides digital fingerprint database for Southeast Kansas police
Dec 28, 2009 (The Joplin Globe - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
A $305,000 Justice Department grant will provide a new technological tool for police agencies in 12 Southeast Kansas counties.
The grant will provide digital fingerprint and palm print identification capability to the agencies and allow them to share the information, plus arrest records, photos and background information on suspects. The information will form a collective database in a standard format that can be accessed by local, state and federal authorities.
The Labette County Sheriff's Department was the lead agency in applying for the grant.
"It's going to be a great tool for all the agencies," said Sheriff William Blundell. "I think the biggest thing is this will allow us to compare prints of known offenders in one county to those in another on a much quicker basis."
Cherokee County Sheriff David Groves said the system will help track suspects, who are often transient.
"A lot of defendants bounce between counties," Groves said.
He said his department and those in other counties are now building databases from current and past jail inmates.
A future step of the project will provide agencies with mobile equipment which will allow investigators to capture fingerprints in the field.
Other counties that are part of the project are Crawford, Bourbon, Neosho, Allen, Chautauqua, Elk, Wilson, Woodson, Greenwood and Montgomery. Police departments in Coffeyville, Independence and Pittsburg also are involved.
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