Mahoning sheriff's new machine can capture, save fingerprints

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Thanks to a new machine at the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office, investigators do not only have the ability to lift a fingerprint — they also have the ability to save it permanently.

Sheriff Jerry Greene said the department received a Cyanosafe Filtered System, which is a chamber in which objects can be placed to test for fingerprints.

Specifically, Greene said, the chamber emits fumes that not only lift a print on an object, but allow the print to stay permanently.

“It takes the human error of dusting the print and lifting the print out of the equation,” Greene said.

The fumes use a chemical called cyanoacrylate, which is the same component used in Super Glue, Greene said, and that allows for the print to be stuck on the object.

The machine cost $5,000 and was paid for with drug-seizure money, Greene said.

It will be ideal for testing objects such as handguns and can even accommodate a small rifle, Greene said.

“It’s pretty sizable,” Greene said.

Greene said the department’s own detective bureau will use the machine, but he added he has alerted all departments in the county that the machine is available in case they need to use it.