# Can Local Police Access FBI Fingerprint Records? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 3, 2011, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-local-police-access-fbi-fingerprint-records/584200 "2011-06-03T15:04:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-local-police-access-fbi-fingerprint-records/584200/1 "2011-06-03T15:04:05Z")
Can local police access FBI fingerprint records? Can they do this from their police crusier? What do they need to access this information? Just name? Social Security number? ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-local-police-access-fbi-fingerprint-records/584200/2 "2011-06-03T15:08:39Z")
Yes, local police can access the FBI database of fingerprint records. It’s called IAFIS (usually pronounced “Aphis”), the [Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_Automated_Fingerprint_Identification_System). ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-local-police-access-fbi-fingerprint-records/584200/3 "2011-06-03T16:07:01Z")
Thanks for the response pravnik. How quick is this? Is it the typical government bureaucracy, where a form is filled out, routed through official channels, and if the right incantations are chanted, they get an answer back in 2 weeks? Or can some LLE officer just type in a name into a computer and wham, there are fingerprints. The Wiki didn’t really seem to address this on the LLE side. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-local-police-access-fbi-fingerprint-records/584200/4 "2011-06-03T17:26:01Z")
With the right equipment, AFIS hits can turn up pretty quickly. When people are booked into jail their prints and names are generally run through IAFIS and state AFIS databases through a Live Scan device; the FBI says that their average response time on a criminal IAFIS search is now down to ten minutes. A lot of people giving false names at arrest are caught with AFIS hits and charged with failure to ID in addition to whatever they were arrested for. ---
**Author:** ![DxZero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DxZero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DxZero)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-local-police-access-fbi-fingerprint-records/584200/5 "2011-06-03T18:47:47Z")
Also on that same concept, there is the ViCAP run by the FBI that allows states to coordinate with the FBI and other states about major crimes and exchange information. I had professor at my undergrad who made a big deal about how it would help solve crimes quicker if input/output could be allowed from police departments real-time through out the country. There were security concerns blocking the plan, but from what I read on Wiki it seems to have gone through. Answering the main point of the question, if a police officer had access to ViCAP he would be instantly ahead of other crimes matching your particular act and if they’re was a specific MO or what have you. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-local-police-access-fbi-fingerprint-records/584200/6 "2011-06-03T19:54:13Z")
But not from a cruiser, I suspect. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-local-police-access-fbi-fingerprint-records/584200/7 "2011-06-03T20:05:09Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > But not from a cruiser, I suspect. Probably not because fingerprinting I suspect happens at the police station but in theory there is no reason it couldn’t be done from a cruiser. Scanners are cheap and the police cars already have a data link. Uploading the fingerprint would be trivial if they could take a reasonably good one in the field. Just not sure it is worth equipping cruisers to do so. ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-local-police-access-fbi-fingerprint-records/584200/8 "2011-06-03T20:31:51Z")
Fingerprint readers are cheap. We use them at work for access to PCs, and many laptops come with them integrated to the keyboard area. Existing incar laptops could be upgraded with a USB attached reader for little cost. But… would it be worth it? I’m of the belief that it could be, as an identification tool (of course, your prints need to be in the system) for someone unwilling to present ID. (When legally required, but unavailable or not willingly given) ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2016, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-local-police-access-fbi-fingerprint-records/584200/10 "2016-08-02T09:03:30Z")
spam reported ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-local-police-access-fbi-fingerprint-records/584200/12 "2016-08-11T14:56:02Z")
> [@rosemary\_Bicker](#): > > Yes, local police can access the FBI database of fingerprint records If you were licensed prior and you are trying to renew your license to an active status, you must have current electronic fingerprint results on file with the Board for both levels of service (DOJ and FBI). If you do not have current fingerprints on file with the Board or if you only have one (1) level of service (DOJ or FBI) on file, this could hold up your license renewal until the new fingerprints are completed and sent to the Board. I recommend [spam removed] Is “licensing” – strictly speaking, a government regulation somewhere allowing access to the database (a government facility and service, naturally) required? I once volunteered at a children’s program run by a Jewish community center, and they fingerprinted me and “sent it to Albany.” I had no license for anything, nor received one, except, presumably, for not being a known fingerprinted criminal. Is it because the day school was required to do so by _their_ license? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-local-police-access-fbi-fingerprint-records/584200/13 "2016-08-11T15:40:28Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > But not from a cruiser, I suspect. [Yes from a cruiser.](http://kron4.com/2016/03/11/fingerprint-reader-in-vacaville-patrol-car-used-to-arrest-serial-id-theft-suspect/) I personally have never seen one of the portable units but they are out there. I’m not sure if anyone uses it in my state. Generally the way to run prints that are currently attached to a person is to use the table top Live Scan unit that Pravnik mention. If it’s a print that has been lifted we send it through our state police lab. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-local-police-access-fbi-fingerprint-records/584200/14 "2016-08-11T17:54:45Z")
Are zombie fingerprints in the database? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-local-police-access-fbi-fingerprint-records/584200/15 "2016-08-11T19:23:55Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Are zombie fingerprints in the database? Absolutely. We had a murder victim dumped on one of our roads. Inked his fingers and got the prints and ran them down to Trenton to get immediately processed. Didn’t take long to get an identification since he was an ex-con. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-local-police-access-fbi-fingerprint-records/584200/16 "2016-08-11T22:23:01Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Absolutely. > > We had a murder victim dumped on one of our roads. Inked his fingers and got the prints and ran them down to Trenton to get immediately processed. Didn’t take long to get an identification since he was an ex-con. Sounds like he was an ex-everything by that point.