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To: steve who wrote (25863)	4/16/2004 7:19:12 PM
From: steve	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 26039

High-tech system aiding law enforcement By KATIE NELSON knelson@gctelegram.com Posted on Friday, April 16, 2004 2:05:20 PM A new computerized fingerprinting system at the Finney County Jail is improving the detective work of local law enforcement agencies. The Live Scan system is a machine that records the fingerprints of people booked into the jail. It's faster, cleaner and more accurate than the old ink-and-paper method used in the past, said Robert Hahn, who oversees sheriff's office technology. "It's not rocket science, but it makes everyone's life easier," he said. The Finney County Sheriff's Office received the $80,0000 machine in 1999 using Kansas Bureau of Investigations grants to pay for about 70 percent of the cost. But building renovation costs and budget restraints prevented using the machine until recently. Since Live Scan came online in November, the jail records nearly everyone processed through the jail system with the scanner - nearly 1,050 so far. The prints are then forwarded on to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the FBI. It's proven useful, said Mark Welch, jail administrator. People all too often use fake or alternate versions of their names to try to wriggle their way out of trouble, he said. Live Scan sends prints on to the KBI and FBI to determine if they match prints already on record. Results are returned in a matter of hours. That way, the police department and sheriff's office here can learn about other outstanding or past charges under different names, Welch said. The same kind of matching with state and federal records was done in the past, but the turnaround could take more than a month, Welch said. Ink-recorded prints were sent through regular mail, analyzed by KBI investigators, then mailed back to the county. It was a slow process, he said. And even if it turned out there were warrants out for a person under a different name, they could be long-gone by the time the print results returned from Topeka. "If we can prevent a criminal from slipping through the cracks because they used a false name or alias, then we even have the potential to save some lives," Welch said. Using the machine also improves print accuracy, Hahn said. The computer can reject prints because of smudges or smears. It provides quality control by making it unnecessary to create separate sets of prints to the FBI, KBI and for various police and sheriff's office records, which was done in the past. Instead, the result is one, clear copy that can be e-mailed to every agency that needs it, he said. Hahn was largely responsible for bringing Live Scan here, making the jail one of about 15 in the state to use the technology. "We're not ahead of the game, but at least we're in it now," he said. On top of the initial $80,000 for the machine, the costs included paying computer programmers to create an interface between the jail log program and Live Scan, so information could be shared between the two systems. There's also an $8,000-a-year maintenance fee - sort of an insurance to make sure if it breaks down it will be fixed right away, Hahn said. The platens, the glass lenses used to record the prints, also will need to be replaced periodically for about $3,000 a set. Despite the cost, the investment is well worth it because it lets local law enforcers do their jobs better than before, Hahn and Welch agreed. "At very little cost to the county, it's been a benefit to us, the state and everyone who lives here," Welch said. gctelegram.com steve