POLICE in Lancashire are to be kitted out with handheld fingerprint scanners to allow them to carry out identity checks in the street.
All forces in the country will be given the mobile devices as part of Project Midas – designed to speed up criminal investigations.
Currently, officers have to take suspects to custody if they need to check fingerprints, which, on average, takes 67 minutes.
Prints will be compared against the 7.5million on the national police database.
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