United States Rep. Virginia Foxx (N.C.-5) is pleased to announce that her request for funding to benefit the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office (ICSO) was included in the FY06 Science, Departments of State, Justice and Commerce and Related Agenc
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United States Rep. Virginia Foxx (N.C.-5) is pleased to announce that her request for funding to benefit the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office (ICSO) was included in the FY06 Science, Departments of State, Justice and Commerce and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, which is pending final approval today. Rep. Foxx’s request would help fund a project to establish a fingerprint system for the Sheriff’s crime lab.
“I appreciate Virginia Foxx's commitment to protect the citizens of her district,” said Iredell County Sheriff Phillip Redmond. “The Congresswoman worked closely with me as soon as she took office to determine the needs of Iredell County. Thanks to her hard work, we are one giant step closer to reducing the time it takes to get criminals off the street.”
In a letter dated April 7, 2005 to Rep. Frank Wolf, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Science, State, Justice, Commerce and Related Agencies, Rep. Foxx wrote:
“The ICSO is constructing a crime lab which will eventually develop into a regional lab for other law enforcement agencies in the area. For that crime lab, ICSO needs federal assistance to purchase the Omnitrack Fingerprint Identification System. This system will help classify and identify fingerprints, as well as search the federal Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) for a match.
“The outdated and inefficient current system only allows for fingerprints from booked inmates to be sent to AFIS for positive identification. ICSO needs a system by which officers can instantaneously submit an unknown latent fingerprint from a crime scene, or a fingerprint from an unknown person, for AFIS to analyze and identify. Currently, ICSO has fingerprint cards on file and analysts must physically go through each card for comparison to find a match. If there is no card match, the print is sent to the State Bureau of Investigation for analysis, which can take up to 18 months. The Omnitrack Fingerprint Identification System will expedite the identification process and also avoid human error.”
This project must now pass the U.S. Senate before a House and Senate Conference committee agrees on an exact dollar amount.
