New Technology Helps Sheriff’s Department Better Identify Suspects

Sonora, Ca — The Tuolumne County Sheriff´s Department has a new tool to be able to better identify suspects in criminal investigations.

In 2002, the California Department of Motor Vehicles, in cooperation with the Department of Justice, opened up their database of over 32 million drivers license photos to the state´s law enforcement agencies.

Lieutenant Dan Bressler says the Sheriff´s Department has recently received the equipment needed to access the system.

Bressler says, “If someone witnesses a crime, in the past it would take us a while to put together a photo lineup. Now we can print out a photo lineup in just a few minutes and present it to the witness. It just makes their observations that much more reliable.”

The Sheriff´s Department can also use the technology to quickly release the photo of a missing person, or someone convicted of a serious crime, to the public.

Written by BJ Hansen