By Staff
MAKING ITS MARK A new laser imagery fingerprint scanning system, called Live Scan, will soon replace the old ink-and-roll type of fingerprinting. Photo by Marianne Todd/The Meridian Star
By Marianne Todd/The Meridian Star
Nov. 28, 2000
The Lauderdale County Detention Facility is moving into the new century with a high-tech fingerprint scanning system.
Now, systems like those seen only in Mission Impossible will be used to scan inmates' fingerprints, sending the information directly to a Jackson database.
Lauderdale County Sheriff Billy Sollie said the $46,000 system, called Live Scan, replaces the old ink and roll system of fingerprinting. The system works by laser imagery, he said.
The new system also helps correctional officers because it alerts the jailer of a mistake due to inmate movement, smudging or a lack of ink, Sollie said.
Fingerprint technology has advanced tremendously in Mississippi in recent years with the advent of the Automated Fingerprint Identification System, Sollie said.
Live Scan enhances the entirety of that system, allowing crime lab experts to make fingerprint matches more easily, he said.
Sollie said he applied for the Live Scan grant through the Mississippi Department of Public Safety around Sept. 1.
The $34,500 grant and the $11,500 match funded by the Mississippi tobacco settlement, pays for the scanner, hard copy cards for local records, installation and training.
Sollie said he has not yet been given a date when the new system will arrive.
Marianne Todd is a staff writer for The Meridian Star. E-mail her at mtodd@meridianstar.com.