he DeKalb Police Department is launching a new finger printing system called the Live Scan technique as part of series of technology upgrades.

“Live Scan is an electronic system that takes an inkless impression of finger prints and analyzes it,” Police Chief Bill Feithen said.

Using the Live Scan machine, the suspect puts his or her hands on the scanner and it takes a picture of the fingerprints, said Administrative Sergeant Tracy Smith.

Currently, the officers roll ink fingerprints on pieces of paper and then send them to the state police and the federal bureau of investigation.

“In the old system, often the print would be smudged and if the officer didn’t see that, they were rejected by the state or FBI and that information wouldn’t be put in the data base,” Feithen said. “This system verifies the validity of the fingerprint and will tell us if the finger print is a good impression.”

If someone who has been arrested before gives a false name, the Live Scan system will be able to catch them and instantly identify people who are wanted, Smith said.

Feithen said the department has been inquiring about Live Scan, which has been implemented in major cities and more populated counties for past three years. The grant was given by the state when they looked at the number of finger print submissions by the department annually and found it was one of the highest among those that don’t have the Live Scan, he added.

Only 260 of about 1,200 police departments in Illinois use the Live Scan technique, said Terry Gough, assistant bureau chief for the Illinois State Police Bureau of Identification.

The DeKalb police had 1,156 arrests in the past 12 months, he added.

“Live Scan allows them to send the stuff electronically so it’s a more timely response and the quality is much better,” Gough said.

Live Scan will save the state money in not having to deal with paper fingerprints and save man hours and postage, Feithen said.

Ordering a Live Scan machine and implementing the new technique was made possible by a $50,000 grant from the Illinois Criminal Justice Authority.

Once the machine arrives, all the officers will be trained in the new technique. The system should be ready to use by Sept. 1.

Complementing this upgrade, the department is introducing digital photography and booking using money from federal grant of over $300,000 called Cops More.

“A digital video camera will be used to take pictures of the arrestees instead of the 35 millimeter photography currently in use,” Feithen said. “Those will be stored in the comp system, saving film, developing cost and will make the photos more user friendly.”

The digital photo and digitally entered arrest information will be stored with the electronic finger prints, Smith said.

“The police are just now feeling the effect of technology,” he added. “It will be extremely beneficial to all of us.”