The Louisiana Sheriffs’ Association has announced a statewide rollout of the Civil Inquiry Fingerprinting System, which has been speeding up pre-employment checks for local businesses since last May, said Caddo Sheriff Steve Prator.

Every sheriff’s office in Louisiana is now equipped with a Live Scan fingerprinting workstation, which allows private employers, state agencies, and other entities the ability to submit an applicant’s fingerprints to the FBI and the Louisiana Department of Public Safety (DPS) for the purpose of positively identifying prospective employees or agents.Usually, within 24 hours, these background checks can determine if an applicant is currently wanted, has an arrest record, is a convicted sex offender, or has been convicted of stalking or other domestic violence offenses.

The Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office became the first office to roll out the new system this past May.“The Caddo Sheriff’s Office was very pleased to be selected by the LSA as the first agency to offer Live Scan,” Prator said.“The citizens of our parish are already seeing the benefits of this new technology, which can reduce the wait for background check results from three months to as little as a few days.Businesses can complete the hiring process faster, and citizens can go to work sooner.”

Since 2009, the LSA has been working to make this new system a reality for the state of Louisiana.The program began to take shape with the passage of Representative Ernest Wooton’s HB 186.This LSA legislative package bill gave sheriffs the authority to conduct background screenings and allowed for the remission of fees at the local level. Upon passage of the bill, the LSA began developing an implementation process. Live Scan workstations have now been installed in every parish in the state, and five parishes, including Caddo, are actively processing applicants.

Before the Live Scan system was in place, all sheriffs’ offices used the traditional method of fingerprinting, where ink would be applied to the applicant’s fingers and rolled across a fingerprint card to obtain prints.The fingerprint card would then be mailed to Louisiana State Police for processing.The process was not only messy, but also time consuming.The process normally took from a few weeks to a few months to process, depending on the clarity of the fingerprints taken.

Now using the Live Scan technology, fingers are placed along a glass plate and electronically scanned.This ink free digital capturing of fingerprints allows for electronic submission with fast and positive identification of the applicant.

Usually within 24 hours background check results on an individual can be viewed and printed by the employer on a secure web site.All information is confidential, and no criminal record is seen by anyone other than the registered employer.To participate, businesses using Live Scan must first register through DPS.

“The new Live Scan system enables authorities to process fingerprints in a more accurate and timely manner, which is crucial to public safety,” said Michael Ranatza, LSA executive director. “This system is beneficial not only to local authorities but also to local businesses, making it easier for employers to more efficiently complete background checks.”