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Report: NYC police illegally kept log of juveniles' fingerprints

NYPD car.
Photo: Sergi Reboredo/VW PICS/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

New York City police until recently illegally kept a database of fingerprints from juveniles who'd been taken into custody, AP reports.

What we know: The Legal Aid Society says the repository contained tens of thousands of youths' fingerprints. Bulletins have also been issued to the Department's 36,000 officers notifying them of the procedural change.

  • Under New York state law, juvenile fingerprints must be destroyed within local police departments after being sent to a statewide repository with the Division of Criminal Justice Services.

What they're saying: The NYPD says it has wiped the database since the Legal Aid Society's discovery, though it didn't admit any wrongdoing, per Spectrum News NY1.

Of note: Per AP, "Beside the fingerprint database, the Legal Aid Society’s lawyer representing juvenile and adult defendants say they’re also concerned about police use of facial recognition and DNA collection, as well as its database of suspected gang members."

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