West Midlands Police:Male unable to hide true identity from police thanks to latest crime-fighting gadget

September 19, 2012, 9:26 am

A MAN wanted by Nottinghamshire Police was arrested by officers in Solihull, thanks to a high tech fingerprint scanning device.
Officers were patrolling the Hampton in Arden area last Wednesday (12 September) in response to burglaries in the area and stopped two men.
After finding “no trace” of one of the men, officers used the fingerprint scanning device to reveal his true identity and the reason he provided false details

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Within seconds of checking his name on PNC (Police National Computer), it showed he was wanted by colleagues in Nottingham after failing to appear at court as part of an investigation into theft.
He was then arrested for obstructing police and for failing to appear, Acting Inspector Peter Wall from Solihull”s local policing unit said: “In the past when officers had suspicions about an individual, we would have to take them to a police station, go through the custody process, and fingerprint them at the station. This process could take hours.
“This is a great example of how the Mobile ID kit allows officers to quickly confirm whether an arrest is necessary and frees-up officers to be on the streets.
“Officers were originally in the area speaking to residents about how they can protect themselves from burglary. Thanks to the new device they were able to continue carrying this out after promptly dealing with this man.”
The scanners were rolled out across the West Midlands after a successful trial in East Birmingham.
The device is only used to check prints against the national database and doesn”t permanently store scanned images.

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