Police in Bury extend the use of high-tech crime fighting tool

Date published: 18 September 2009

Police in Bury are using a new high-tech tool to help them bring criminals to justice.

Officers are widening the use of new mobile Lantern fingerprinting equipment across the division and now all special constables are trained in the use of the device which is used to scan the fingerprints of subjects while they are out on patrol.

These fingerprints are then instantly compared against a database of 6.7 million fingerprints on the National Automated Fingerprint System and the results returned to the officer within several minutes to verify the identity of the subject, if a record exists.

The system offers a number of benefits to police as it allows officers to perform almost instantaneous verification checks out on the street. This benefits the public in that officers are retained out on patrol instead of having to return to the station to carry out a lengthy identification process which can sometimes take several hours.

GMP has invested £250,000 to the Lantern project, a commitment second only to the Metropolitan Police, and the Force now has access to 42 Lantern devices with two of these located on Bury Division.

Inspector Mark Kenny of Bury Division said: “The lantern devices are invaluable in our fight against criminals and have a hugely positive impact on frontline policing not least by increasing the time officers spend on the frontline.

“It also provides a visible deterrent to criminals and sends them a powerful message that they cannot lie to the police who they are. There will be no place to hide from this excellent piece of equipment and more criminals will be brought to justice.”

Fingerprints taken by Lantern are not retained.