SHARKEY COUNTY — The Sharkey County Sheriff’s Department has acquired a new electronic fingerprinting system that will allow deputies to capture and transmit fingerprints and mugshots directly to the state, replacing a slower, more error-prone process.
The department recently purchased an IDEMIA LiveScan system using grant funding secured by department employee Angela Jenkins, Sheriff Herbert D. Ceaser Sr. announced.
The system electronically captures fingerprints, palm prints and facial images at the time of booking and transmits them directly to state databases, cutting down on paperwork and turnaround time. It can also flag whether a subject has previously been booked under a different identity and link individuals to records in other law enforcement databases.
Previously, fingerprinting in many smaller jurisdictions relied on ink-based methods that required manual processing and mailing to state agencies, a process that could take days and was more susceptible to errors that led to rejected submissions.
The IDEMIA system uses FBI-certified scanners and is compatible with existing records management systems. It supports multiple types of biometric data, including fingerprints, palm prints, photographs, iris scans and documentation of scars, marks and tattoos.
Sharkey County is one of the smaller sheriff’s departments in the state. Grant-funded technology acquisitions like this one have become an increasingly common way for rural law enforcement agencies to access equipment that would otherwise be out of reach for departments with limited budgets.
