Rosemount Police Have A New Fingerprint ID System

ROSEMOUNT, MN — The Rosemount Police Department (RPD) now has a new way to quickly and accurately identify individuals – a mobile fingerprint identification system.

The system, which the department has been using for around six weeks, is called the Evolution 3. It is made by Data Works Plus, a technology company that specializes in products designed for law enforcement, criminal justice and government agencies.

The device has a direct connection to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the RPD wrote on its Facebook page. It can submit fingerprints to the Minnesota State Automated Fingerprint Identification System and the FBI.

RPD officers, who have all been trained on the device, can use it to view an individual's associated record data, arrest history, booking photos (when on file), and any warrants, the Facebook post said.

Joe Risvold, a sergeant at the Rosemount Police Department, said the system is mainly used to check the ID of someone who an officer believes isn't being truthful about their identity. For example, Risvold said, it was recently used to correctly identify a man who claimed he was 25 years old but looked decades older.

"(Officers are) pulling the device out for a reason," Risvold said. "It's not just like they're pulling it out while walking down the street."

Officers can sign up to take it with them during their shifts, Risvold said, and both RPD officers and those in nearby towns can request use of it when needed.

"Since we've had this, we've actually used it in a neighboring agency and we had a positive identification of a person they were arresting. And since then that agency has come over here to inquire about it," Risvold said. "They were pretty impressed with it, so I think if other agencies had the funds to purchase one, I don't know why they wouldn't."

It was also used to correctly ID a woman who provided a fake name, the Facebook post said.

By using the scanner, officers found that the woman had warrants out for her arrest, and that her driver's license status was "Cancelled-IPS," meaning authorities determined she was unable to operate her vehicle without posing a serious safety risk to others.

"Rosemount PD is pleased to have the new and latest technology, which will help our officers and other surrounding agencies keep our communities safe," the department wrote on Facebook.