London police to use mobile fingerprint device

LONDON - Frontline police officers in London are being issued mobile fingerprint scanners that can confirm a suspect identity within 60 seconds, British police said Tuesday.

The Metropolitan Police Service has become the first British police force to develop its own mobile fingerprint device in a move that will save both officer time and public money.

Scotland Yard said that the device will slash the time it takes to deal with offenders and allow officers to stay out on the streets for longer. Normally officers must arrest a suspect and take him or her to a police station to check his or her identity.

The scanners will be given to 600 officers across the British capital over the next six months, the police said.

The decision to use the new device coincides with the statement of a spokesman for Prime Minister Theresa May, which said that the terrorist threat level in Britain remains severe.

The mobile biometric device, named INK Biometrics, scans suspects' fingerprints and will confirm their identity within 60 seconds if they are known to police databases. This allows faster apprehension of wanted offenders and by removing the need to return to base.

Although similar technology has been used by the Met and other forces since 2012, the new kit is cheaper which allows six times as many devices to be deployed.

Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said: "The speed of analysis of information that this device will offer, will drive effectiveness and efficiency and allow officers to spend more time in our communities and fighting crime."