LORI PILGER / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Monday, February 20, 2006 6:00 pm
Beware: Lincoln police are likely to catch you in a lie if you give a false name and have a history with them.
For the past week, officers have had instant access to a database of 90,000 mug shots right from the computer in their patrol car.
On Monday night, it caused problems for a 34-year-old Lincoln man, Alec Hogan.
Lincoln Police Chief Tom Casady said officers were called about a disturbance and arrived to find a vehicle leaving.
The officer stopped it and asked the people inside for their names.
Casady said Hogan gave the officer his last name, but a first name of Donald.
The officer went back to his cruiser, checked his computer and found an Alec Hogan, with the same birthday, who had a warrant for his arrest. He pulled up his mug shot, knew he was the guy and arrested him.
Casady said there are few places that have that kind of access, which came about as the result of a software upgrade, called DataWorks Plus, that came about a month ago.
The mug shot component was added a little more than a week ago in patrol cars, he said.
Casady said he didn’t know how much the new technology would cost. He said the system is used jointly by the police, jail, Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office and County Attorney’s Office, all of which share the expense.
Hogan’s arrest Monday night was the first Casady said he knew of that came as a direct result of in-car access to the thumbnail images.
But he said he considered digital imaging one of the three biggest technological advances in his time as police chief.
The two others? Cellular phones and his department’s relational database engine, which includes the ability to produce crime maps.
Reach Lori Pilger at 473-7237 or lpilger@journalstar.com.