The Identification Section of the Bartow Police Department is responsible for the processing of fingerprint , palm print, crime scene , and evidence storage/disposal. The Identification Section is supervised by a Sergeant and one full time Crime Scene Tech.  In addition to the full time personnel assigned to the section, eight Patrol Officers have received specialized training and are utilized for processing scenes out in the field.

    

                            

  The Identification unit of the Bartow Police Dept. does fingerprint and palm print comparisons between suspect inked prints and latent fingerprints and palm print from crime scenes. Latent prints are finger and palm prints that are developed from crime scenes by the use of powders and chemicals and then lifted from a surface or photographed and brought to the identification unit for comparison to suspect inked prints.

The identification unit has an in-house fingerprint and palm print computer searching program to search latent from cases that do not have any suspects. This is the only computer palm print searching program in the county. The identification unit also has access to the Fla Dept of Law Enforcement automated fingerprint identification system through the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. The Identification unit has a microscope, digital camera and a computer enhancement program to use when doing latent print comparisons.

                                                    

The Evidence Unit of the Bartow Police Department takes care of storing all evidence that is impounded for court. The Evidence Unit uses a computer system to keep track of the location of all evidence and transports drugs and other evidence to the FDLE state lab for analysis. The Evidence Unit is responsible for destruction or disposal of any evidence that is no longer needed for court.

                                      

                                

The Crime Scene unit of the Bartow Police Dept processes crime scenes for latent finger and palm prints, shoe prints, blood stains, bullets, and any other evidence that may be useful in a criminal prosecution. The Crime Scene unit photographs and sketches crime scenes. Different powders and chemicals are used to obtain the latent crime scene prints. 35-mm cameras, a digital camera, and video camera are used to record the scene and evidence. The Crime Scene unit uses a digital camera to record most scenes and the pictures can be printed in a matter of minutes on a computer or a digital photo printer. The Crime scene unit videotapes training classes, photographs city property that is damaged for city risk management, and fingerprints the public when they need it for employment.

 

 

Bartow Police Department Crime Scene Vehicle.