Police forces are testing handheld computers to speed up the identification of drivers, potentially saving £2.2m by eliminating the need to take people back to the station.
The mobile devices, which are first being trialled by Bedfordshire Police, are linked to a database of 6.5 million fingerprints to allow for immediate checking.
A further nine forces will be issued the equipment in the next two months as part of the Lantern pilot, which is expected to run until December, 2007.
The devices are primarily aimed at banned or uninsured drivers that give false details when stopped. Drivers will now be asked to provide a print from both index fingers for comparison against the national fingerprint database.
The data is sent using wireless encrypted transmissions to the central database and run against the prints in its collection in under five minutes.
Forces calculate they could save £2.2m annually through time saved in pursuing false identities, a further £1.6m in addition penalty notices issued and close to £500,000 in time not spent re-executing warrants.
The devices are provided by Northrop Grumman and Sagem while Cable & Wireless provides encryption and connectivity. The devices have an accuracy of 94 to 95 per cent.
The pilot is being carried out by force’s automatic number plate recognition team.
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