VB Spends $15,000 on Fingerprint Technology

ID 500 Livescan System

This is a NY State mandate that the VB has known about since the summer of 2008.  Basically the mandate says that every agency that submits fingerprints will be ink-less by January 2010.  State contract to buy the whole system is $30,000, but the COP has found a system that will cost the village taxpayers only $15,000..........wow what a deal.  Almost like doing your shopping the day after Christmas.  The scanner on the right is going to be purchased [used] from some guy that had it on ebay.  It did not sell there, but if you wait long enough.....some sucker buyer always comes along.

The Clayton PD applied for a grant to get a brand new one.  According to the mayor they were not awarded this grant.  So now  Clayton, Cape Vincent, Theresa, The State Police, and Park Police all have to transport prisoners to the Sheriffs Dept. in Watertown. The mayor went on to say  this would be a financial burden to the taxpayers of our village in the form of travel time, overtime [2 officers to transport a prisoner], and vehicle maintenance.  I asked the COP how many fingerprints do we do in a year?  He stated anywhere from 20 to 30........That means that during the first year of using this new system it is going to cost $500 for each person that is arrested ........

Here is the breakdown:

• $13,000 for the software and hardware
• $500 for a new laptop
• $625 for the used scanner

Police Department budget is all used up........[someone did not save for a rainy day].  But the mayor has found $55,000 in a contingency budget line item.  Hey what the hell!  The board has only known about this mandate for a year and a half..........how can you plan for spending on such short notice?  Trustee Drake made the motion to spend $15,000 for the new/used system, Trustee Jarvis seconded the motion.  Trustee Jury was also in favor.  Kudos goes to Trustee Roy for almost opposing the motion.  Apparently the mayor was disappointed in his deputy mayor [you can hear it in his tone and audible sigh] when she abstained, stating that she thought that the board needed to do more research.

Below is the audio from the VB meeting that was held on 12/22/09.  The fingerprint scanning system discussion starts at 10min:20sec and ends at 31min.  It is well worth a listen, as there are many discussion points that I did not cover here............more later!