Clarkstown Police Receive Fingerprint Equipment Grant

Nearly $710,000 in state grants will go to Clarkstown and 50 other police departments and sheriffs’ offices across New York for the purchase of electronic fingerprinting equipment.

This new equipment will replace existing devices that either malfunction or are obsolete.

“Fingerprinting is a proven and highly effective crime-fighting method – which drives us to help law enforcement agencies record and share fingerprints as efficiently as possible,” Gov. Andrews Cuomo said in a prepared statement. “These grants will help departments across the state, regardless of size, maintain a vital form of equipment, and I am proud that the state is able to help our local partners in this way.”

All fingerprints taken in connection with arrests must be submitted electronically to the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services – the state’s repository of criminal history record information – and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Digital fingerprint technology enables law enforcement agencies and the courts to instantly receive an arrestee’s positive identification and any past criminal history and warrant information from the state. This information is crucial in determining how cases against arrested individuals proceed, including whether bail is set by the court.

The maximum grant awarded for each device was $10,000. Each of the grant recipients must provide a 50 percent local match as this technology benefits both local law enforcement agencies and the state. Any municipal police department or county sheriff’s office in the state was eligible to apply for this funding and could apply for more than one device if the agency hosts a regional server that allows others to electronically submit fingerprints to the state and FBI.

These Hudson Valley departments were among those who received funding to update their equipment; agencies with grant awards of $10,000 or less will purchase one device:

Hudson Valley:

• · Beacon Police Department, Dutchess County: $10,000
  · Clarkstown Police Department, Rockland County: $10,000
  · Goshen Town Police Department, Orange County: $8,998
  · Kingston Police Department, Ulster County: $10,000
  · Middletown Police Department, Orange County: $10,000
  · Mount Vernon Police Department, Westchester County: $10,000
  · New Paltz Police Department, Ulster County: $10,000
  · Putnam County Sheriff’s Office: $19,989 for two devices
  · Westchester County Department of Public Safety: $8,351
  · White Plains Department of Public Safety, Westchester County: $10,000
  · Yonkers Police Department, Westchester County: $19,692 for two devices