The wider use of fingerprint scanning technology in recent years has made it easier than ever for law enforcement officials to share information about criminals and quickly compare a suspect’s fingerprint image with millions of similar imprints, according to a January report from the General Accounting Office. But it can still take small police departments that can’t afford the electronic equipment more than five months to mail batches of fingerprint cards to state repositories, the report said.The GAO found that a 1999 FBI program called the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) is increasing the use and accuracy of a federal fingerprint database. The IAFIS program was created to encourage nonfederal law enforcement agencies to submit criminal fingerprints to state databases, and then to the federal IAFIS database. Though state and local police make about 94 percent of felony and serious misdemeanor crime arrests, as recently as 1999, only around 45 percent of fingerprints collected from those arrests made it into the federal repository. In addition, it took an average of 118 days for prints to make it from local law enforcement to the FBI’s fingerprint collection, according to the report.As of May 2003, the feds were receiving around 70 percent of criminal fingerprints submitted to state repositories, and the time taken to submit the prints has shrunk to 40 days, the GAO said. However, the GAO found that many small law enforcement agencies still don’t have the money for Livescan optical scanning equipment that allows them to electronically submit fingerprints. Law enforcement agencies also need to improve their procedures for getting fingerprints submitted to state and federal repositories, especially where electronic submission equipment doesn’t exist, the report found. Many agencies in small cities still work with paper fingerprint cards and manual processes, and mail the cards in batches to state repositories?a process that, in the past, has taken up to 169 days. Related content how-to How to create an effective business continuity plan A business continuity plan outlines procedures and instructions an organization must follow in the face of disaster, whether fire, flood, or cyberattack. Here’s how to create a plan that gives your business the best chance of surviving such an By Mary K. Pratt, Ed Tittel, Kim Lindros Dec 07, 2023 11 mins Small and Medium Business Small and Medium Business Small and Medium Business interview WestRock CIDO Amir Kazmi on building resiliency Multidimensional resiliency is vital to setting yourself, your teams, and your organization up for success. Kazmi sets the tone at WestRock by recognizing the pace of change, instilling a learning and growth mindset, and being transparent with his te By Dan Roberts Dec 07, 2023 8 mins IT Strategy Staff Management IT Leadership brandpost Sponsored by FPT Software Time for New Partnership Paradigms to Be Future-fit By Veronica Lew Dec 06, 2023 5 mins Vendors and Providers brandpost Sponsored by BMC Why CIOs should prioritize AIOps in 2024 AIOps empowers IT to manage services by incorporating AI/ML into operations. By Jeff Miller Dec 06, 2023 3 mins IT Leadership Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe