For law enforcement officers, trying to identify suspects on the street can be challenging. It is far too easy for a person to give a false name and other forms of misinformation. While out on the street, officers lack the same access to resources they can use to help identify the person. This forces officers to rely on nothing more than a driver’s license or state issued ID may or may not be reliable.
Many Reasons to Need ID
There is any number of reasons why an officer might need to be able to positively identify a person on the street. Perhaps there was an incident nearby or a terrorist alert, or any one of many other criminal activities. Of course, officers all start with the same method of identification. They ask a number of standard questions such as name, address, and so forth as a means to identify them. At the same time, it gives the officer time to assess the person and how far they need to go with the identification process.
There is, of course, no way in which to determine whether the person who is being questioned is presenting a false name and ID. It is far too easy for a criminal to produce a perfect facsimile of virtually any form of identification capable of fooling the average officer on the street. This makes the whole concept of using an ID card as a valid form of identification somewhat antiquated. Plus, you have the issue of those who for one reason or another are not carrying the ID with them.
Enter the Mobile Fingerprint Scanner
Mobile bio-metric equipment is nothing new; it has been in use in smartphones, tablets, and laptops for several years. In fact, the use of this technology has been an essential security feature in devices such as these and more.
These mobile devices look a lot like something that belongs on the Starship Enterprise, yet they offer today’s law enforcement officers a chance to obtain a more accurate positive ID for anyone they stop and question. These devices allow officers direct access to the national fingerprint database where millions of fingerprints are stored digitally.
While identifying a suspect in the field has always been a problem for law enforcement officers, with so many suspects willing to lie about who they are, those days might finally be coming to an end. The latest in mobile fingerprint scanning devices bring all of the benefits of being in the office, and all the equipment police officers have access to with them out into the field.
The net result is these devices make it far easier for officers to identify every person they stop accurately. More importantly, these devices make the entire process go far more quickly, reducing the amount of time it takes to positively ID the person and allowing the officer to release them or complete the arrest and get back to keeping their respective communities safe.