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LiveScan - Electronic Fingerprinting


LiveScan – Fingerprinting without the ink…

Brandon Police Service started using Livescan in May of 2007. It is a method of electronically taking fingerprints and palm prints as an alternative to the ink method used previously.

Livescan is used for the majority of criminal fingerprints that are obtained by the Brandon Police Service. The criminal fingerprints can be sent “live” (electronically) to Ottawa immediately after fingerprinting is done. This also allows for a much faster response time for suspect fingerprint matches than in the past, especially in the case of unknown identity or matching for "coldcase" files.

The method for obtaining the fingerprints is the same as it was with ink, however the print is instead scanned into a computer as opposed to rolled in ink and placed on paper. BPS is not yet set up to print and send non-criminal prints (ie. immigration, employment, pardon) to Ottawa, but may be sometime in the future.