Springdale council OKs purchase of fingerprint systems

SPRINGDALE — The City Council on Tuesday gave a unanimous thumbs-up to the purchase of two new fingerprint systems for the Police Department.

The two units cost a total of $25,060. The city received a $21,282 Justice Assistance Grant through the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration to pay most of the cost of the fingerprint systems.

Police Chief Mike Peters said the department would pull $ 3,778 from the drug seizure fund to pay the difference. State law allows forfeiture of property or items used or intended for use in drug manufacturing and distribution. These assets could then be used by local department to pay for future investigations.

The company that manufactured the city’s current fingerprint system has gone out of business leaving the Police Department with no support for maintenance or repairs. Peters said the current machines are more than 10 years old.

The new fingerprint system will come from IDEMIA.

The Arkansas State Police uses IDEMIA equipment for the Automated Fingerprint Identification System, accessed by various police agencies in the state.

The new system will submit immediately to the state the electronic fingerprints of those arrested in Springdale. Local police can then identify a person previously arrested in the state and his criminal record, said Lt. Jeff Taylor, a spokesperson for the Springdale Police Department.

The system also would allow officers to scan an offender’s palms, sides of hands and more and submit those prints directly to the State Police, Taylor said.

Taylor noted that a variety of prints are recorded for those involved in major cases

and for the registration of sex offenders.

He said the department wants “everything possible” on offender. The person committing a crime might touch a surface like a window sill with the palm of the hand, but not the fingertips.

The Police Department will keep one fingerprint unit in the department’s front office to use when members of the public need their fingerprints scanned as a part of background checks for employment, concealed weapon permits and more. The Police Department provides this service free for those who live and work in Springdale, Taylor said.

The other fingerprint unit will be in the booking room near the holding cells for use as officers bring in offenders, he noted.

In other business, the Council:

• Confirmed the appointment of Camron McAhren to the Airport Commission. He owns FlyARH, an aviation provider at Springdale Municipal Airport.

• Approved the purchase at two homes at 900 and 902 E. Emma Ave. for $500,000 total. The city plans to use the land adjacent to The Jones Center for a new Senior Center. The project likely will be part of a future bond issue, which Mayor Doug Sprouse plans to seek in 2023.

• Approved a $748,000 construction contract with PickIt Construction for Phase 2 of the restoration of Rabbit Foot Lodge in J.B. Hunt Park. Phase 2 will focus on the wide, wrap-around porch of the Adirondack home and handicap accessibility. This phase also will include the addition of doors for the lodge’s garage area.

Pick-It also won the construction contract for Phase 1, which was completed earlier this year for $411,759. PickIt crews replaced the lodge’s roof, as well as soffit and fascia relating to the roof.

The lodge was home of the late Sen. J. William Fulbright from 1939 to 1941, while he served as president of the University of Arkansas.