Green Bay: Police scrap fingerprint policy

[BrainRants]

From the Green Bay Press Gazette:

Public outcry has forced the Green Bay Police Department to get rid of a policy that had officers seeking a fingerprint from traffic violators.

And the news media is to blame for the outcry that led to the decision to scrap the policy, said Police Chief Craig Van Schyndle.

“The news media blew it out of proportion,” he said Tuesday evening.

...snip...

The change in policy only applies to traffic violations. Police officers still plan to collect fingerprints from those who violate city ordinances such as retail theft and disorderly conduct, Van Schyndle said.

In addition, Van Schyndle said officers will continue to take fingerprints from people who don’t have a driver’s license during traffic stops.

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/news/archive/local_19395057.shtml

Well, I guess it's a win, sort of. But damn those news media for reporting the news! Damn them for reporting something other the Packers! Damn them!

[rodeodance]

1. they push the envelop just the Administration Does and only

back up when people say NO!!!

[BrainRants]

2. Yup! This was one that worked!

Small victories...

[sybylla]

3. The media? Damn them.

The light of day has thwarted the evil northwoods brownshirts again.

Perhaps someday they will wake up and see just how flawed their thinking is...but I'm not holding my breath.

[Historic NY]

4. In NY you only get printed for misdemeanor's not violations....n/t

[theshadow]

5. To keep things in perspective...

.... it was only a thumbprint, which isn't going to be classified, and only when the person didn't have ID. The intent was to keep innocent people from being jailed for not taking care of a ticket they didn't know about... because a friend or relative used their name and birth date. I guess the officer could photograph every such person instead.


http://www.officer.com/article/article.jsp?id=20090&siteSection=1

[BrainRants]

6. Great followup article, I do understand the other side of the coin.

IMHO, the money line in that article is:

"A driver's license used to be pretty good but it doesn't mean that much anymore"

That more or less confirms my original assertion that the problem is not so much the fingerprinting, but the lack of an state issued ID/Drivers license that's difficult to forge.

The fingerprinting is a local reactionary approach to the problem, where it should be pro-actively addressed at the state level.

Oops, sorry, Wisconsin's legislature is too busy working on protecting the sanctity of marriage and a tax payers bill of rights which only addresses taxes and not spending. But that's a topic for another thread...