Anyone who refuses to show Austin police an ID will find it more difficult to try and trick officers.
A handheld fingerprint scanning device almost instantly reveals a suspect's identity, and officers will soon expand their efforts.
In November, lunch rush drivers at MoPac and Braker Lane in North Austin called police for help. They said a man was throwing rocks at their cars.
When police arrived, they found a teenager. He said his name was “C.C.” or “Lil Sese.”
A quick swipe of his index fingers gave the officer a different ID -- 18-year-old Aaron Elliot Small. The officer took him to jail and charged him with failure to identify. It was not the first time Small had been arrested.
"Anytime someone is lying to you, they're hiding something for some reason. As an officer, it's a safety thing to know who they are. Why were they trying to hide something?” APD Officer Patrick Roth said.
Officer Patrick Roth says people will give fake names, or refuse to give a name in all sorts of circumstances, most commonly traffic stops.
"In my personal experience, once or twice a week,” Roth said.
The device, called the Bluecheck, reveals a name and date of birth of anyone arrested and fingerprinted in Travis County.
There are 100 of these devices in Austin police cars.
In the past three months, officers have used the device 340 times; 120 scans returned an ID. Forty people went to jail.
Now the Bluecheck data base is expanding. Within weeks Austin police will be able to link in to the Department of Public Safety fingerprint database. Officers will then be able to identify anyone arrested by any department in the state.
"It's common for people to move around if they're wanted in a certain city. So if they come to our city, hopefully we'll be able to find them and justice will occur,” said Roth.
The device also keeps officers on the streets longer. In the past, they would arrest someone who refused to give an ID, take them to APD headquarters, and process their fingerprints. Then, the officer would have to drive the suspect to the Travis County Jail and wait for them to get booked in. All of that could take hours.
Now, officers fingerprint on site and make a trip to jail if necessary.
Failure to ID is a misdemeanor. If a person has a warrant, the violation is a felony.
