New ID verification system used in D.C. jails

Thanks to a new rule, visitors to the jails in the District of Columbia will have to get their fingerprints scanned in order make sure they do not have any outstanding warrants, the Washington Examiner reports. The new system of identity verification will allow the print to be checked against the vast database in the police department to find out if the person is wanted for any crime. According one spokesman, the new system will help police go after anyone who is on the run without forcing the jail to pay for the program. "Through a $134,000 grant from the [federal] Office of Justice Grants, we will be [using] the technology in our visitors control area to assist [D.C. police] in the identification of individuals with outstanding warrants," Lane said in an email to the Examiner. Other communities have been using similar ID verification technology in order to catch criminals. The Daytona News-Journal reports that police in Volusia County, Florida, have been using a portable fingerprint scanner on suspects.