By Lauren Garrison, Register Staff

The state’s Automated Fingerprint Identification System will soon be complete, thanks to about $1 million in federal stimulus money.

The money will fund fingerprint scanning machines for the remaining municipalities that don’t have them.

Nine municipalities — including Cheshire, Derby, Madison, Seymour and Wallingford — and three state universities will receive the Live Scan Booking Stations to record suspects’ fingerprints. The devices can also be used for background checks for jobs or other reasons, according to state police Sgt. Ben Liberatore, commanding officer for the criminal justice information system.

“These are the last police agencies within the state of Connecticut that are receiving the Live Scan units. That way everyone will have one and they’ll all be on board,” Liberatore said.

The system records fingerprints and compares them to a nationwide Automated Fingerprint Identification System, or AFIS, as well as the FBI’s records, in a matter of minutes. The state’s AFIS system first came online in 2004, according to Liberatore.

“The response will tell you who the person is that you’re fingerprinting and whether that person has any criminal history,” Liberatore said.

He said having all municipalities on board will reduce the state’s backlog from having to scan inked fingerprints manually.

Liberatore said he hopes to start installing the fingerprinting systems in local police departments in the fall, once all the necessary paperwork is completed.

In Derby, the Board of Aldermen recently approved a memorandum of understanding between the city and the state Department of Public Safety to accept the new equipment, according to police Lt. Scott Todd.

Todd said his department still uses the old-fashioned ink fingerprinting system due to the high cost of the Live Scan machine. Continued...

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“The equipment is upwards of $50,000. It’s been on the capital plan requests for quite awhile, and it just hasn’t been something the city has been able to budget for, up to this point,” he said.

Now, the state is funding 100 percent of the cost of the machine, as well as maintenance and support for the first three years. The state will also train a few of Derby’s officers to be trainers for the entire department on using the machine, Todd said.

Todd said at present, the department must mail cards with inked fingerprints to the Department of Public Safety, and wait up to several weeks for a response.

With the Live Scan system, “We’re talking about cutting it down to two minutes, which is a huge deal,” he said.

Madison police Sgt. Jonathan Pardo said he’s been using Clinton’s Live Scan machine to process the fingerprints of police recruits for background checks.

“It’s a lot easier when you’re doing the prints, because you get instant recognition. So you know whether the prints are good,” Pardo said.

He said ink prints are sometimes sent back.

Southern Connecticut State University Deputy Chief of Police Phil Pessina was also glad to be getting the Live Scan machine for his department.

“Any time we can take off the normal delay in fingerprinting someone, it’s a plus for the department’s investigation. And ultimately, it is also an officer safety issue. Because we never know who we’re dealing with when our officers stop a suspect and an arrest is made,” he said.

Messina said his department now relies on the New Haven Police Department for much of the processing of its suspects. Continued...

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Contact Lauren Garrison at 203-789-5614.

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