News from Bishop Police Chief Chris Carter:

“The Bishop Police Department is pleased to announce the completion of a recent upgrade to the Department’s Live-Scan Fingerprint Equipment and Service capabilities.  The project, which began in early 2011, was funded by the Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Special Distribution Fund at a cost of approximately $11,000.  The Police Department applied to the local Bishop Paiute Tribe and Paiute Palace Casino for the grant and was awarded the funds for the project in May of 2011.  The project was originally scheduled for completion in August of 2011 however issues within the California Department of Justice and the budget of the State of California resulted in delays outside the local level.

The Live-Scan fingerprint equipment is used for a variety of services to benefit the Department and the general public, including the identification of criminal suspects, registration and tracking of offenders, licensing and pre-employment background checks.  In 2011, the Bishop Police Department provided Live-Scan services to over 600 members of the general public and Live-Scan was used to process approximately 300 offenders.   The upgrade project includes improvements to the existing technology as well as now providing the ability to collect DNA in those cases where it is mandated or appropriate.

The Bishop Police Department will soon be expanding the hours of operation for our Live-Scan service to the general public in order to better serve the community.  The Department would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank the Bishop Paiute Tribe, the Paiute Palace Casino, and the Members of the Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee for their work and assistance in this project.”