Pennsylvania police fail to fingerprint thousands of suspected criminals

PUBLICSOURCE.ORG: State law requires that suspected offenders be fingerprinted within 48 hours of arrest…

But police often pass the buck, relying on judges, jailers or even defendants themselves to be sure prints are made. In many cases, prints are made more than a year later, if they’re made at all.

The social cost of not fingerprinting those who are arrested is not small: Without a fingerprint, a defendant has no criminal history… (more)