Fingerprint suspects on street with hundreds more police scanners bought
Police officers will be able to fingerprint suspects ‘on the move’ after hundreds of new mobile fingerprint devices were brought in.
West Midlands Police has invested in 657 of the machines, which enable people’s details to be checked on the streets.
Bosses say the move will save the force time and money, while also enabling officers to spend more time ‘fighting crime’.
The force has spent £262,000 on the devices, which will initially be used by force response teams, operations officers and neighbourhood policing teams.
Officers in the region previously had access to just 24 ‘lantern’ devices, which offered mobile identification but were scrapped after the Home Office withdrew its support for them in March.
West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson said the new devices ‘will help officers to do their jobs on the move and spend more of their time where the public want them – fighting crime’.
He added: “This investment will see over 650 devices rolled out, saving time and ultimately money as a result.
“This technology must be used appropriately and proportionately to maintain public trust.”
Currently, if officers are unable to confirm a person’s identity they have to transport them to a custody suite to use the ‘Livescan’ facility to take fingerprints.
A report to the PCC’s strategic board said: “This process is inefficient due to the time spent by police officers escorting suspects to the suite for the sole purpose of identification.
“If an officer can identify a nominal without the need to visit a custody suite, the demand for custody space and time for this type of enquiry reduces considerably and increases officer efficiency.”
Officers can use mobile ID if there are reasonable grounds to do so, covered under the General Police Powers.
This can arise during stop and search, and Section 163 Road Traffic Stops.
