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(Washington D.C.)- The House of Representatives approved $1.025 million for Oakland County's Courts and Law Enforcement Management Information System (CLEMIS) yesterday. The funding is part of the Consolidated Appropriations bill, a measure which combines 6 of the 12 annual funding bills, that the House passed by a vote of 221 to 202. The project funding, which will purchase new biometric identification technology, was requested by Reps Levin, Peters, and Rogers, as well as Senators Levin and Stabenow.
“Putting these tools in the hands of our officers improves our ability to identify and arrest offenders,” said Joe Sullivan, Director of CLEMIS. “Evidence collected can be shared across agencies to ensure that officers are aware of every lead when trying to solve a crime.”
“The Justice Department reports that 40% of crime scenes contain palm print evidence,” said Rep. Levin. “The new technology that this funding will purchase for CLEMIS will allow law enforcement officials to collect and share this evidence, effectively solving more crimes.”
“This investment will help make Oakland County safer by facilitating communication and information sharing between hundreds of law enforcement agencies across Southeast Michigan,” said Rep. Peters. “In particular, these funds will streamline officer communication, enhance criminal identification and bring more criminals to justice. Public safety budgets have been particularly strained in recent years and we must continue to work together to secure targeted criminal justice investments such as these.”
The funding will be used to upgrade the CLEMIS palm print system, streamline the LiveID application to over 3,500 patrol vehicles in the field, and purchase 62 portable biometric identification devices. CLEMIS promotes communication and sharing of criminal justice information by serving as a technical link among the multiple law enforcement agencies of Oakland County.
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