New LAPD Fingerprint Computer System OKd

The Los Angeles City Council approved the replacement of the LAPD’s computerized fingerprint information system Tuesday while ordering the Police Department to explain why thousands of criminal fingerprints have not been put into the current system.

The City Council voted to spend $190,000 for new computer lines connecting police as they look for information using fingerprints of suspects and convicted criminals. The money will come out of a law enforcement block grant, not out of the city’s general fund.

“The computer system we have in place now is 12 years old,” said Laura Johnson, chief management analyst for the LAPD. “It’s antiquated, and it’s no longer useful compared to what’s available these days.” Johnson also noted the current system is not Y2K compliant.

The creation of the new fingerprint information system is a precursor to a collaborative effort between the LAPD and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department that would allow joint communication on fingerprint identification. Johnson said the county will be responsible for most of the cost, spending $8 million to $10 million in state funds on the new system’s hardware.

At Tuesday’s council meeting, Rep. Hal Bernson was adamant that the LAPD answer why roughly 7,000 fingerprints have yet to be filed into the current system. He said many of the fingerprints are those of violent offenders such as rapists and murderers.

The City Council voted for an amendment Tuesday that calls for the LAPD to present council members with a report on the problem in one month.

After the council meeting Johnson explained that the backlogged cases were primarily made up of prints taken from crime scenes. She said the likely reason for delays in inputting the fingerprint information was because such prints require a significant amount of time to gather, piece together and match.

The LAPD had asked for a $300,000 outlay for new computer lines in its proposed 1999 budget, but the council turned the item down. Johnson said she expects the LAPD will eventually make an additional request of roughly $110,000 to pay for the computer lines that will link the police with the Sheriff’s Department.

The new system will allow the LAPD to meet a requirement that all fingerprints received by the Department of Justice be sent via computer by Sept. 1.