news article: Fingerprint system down during crucial check
Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 2:01 am
Tough Questions: Would 3 Children Be Alive If Finger Print System Had Worked?
Gwinnett County Sheriff''s Department, "Mistake Was Made"
By Jennifer Mayerle, CBS Atlanta Reporter
POSTED: 11:09 pm EST February 22, 2011
UPDATED: 10:05 am EST February 23, 2011
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -- Tough questions are being raised after learning a finger print system that should have caught an identity discrepancy was down during a crucial check.
The Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Department has launched a full investigation into how it happened. If everything had gone right, it's possible a murder suspect would have still been in custody and not have been able to be free to be anywhere near the house with the children he’s accused of killing.
“It’s frustrating,” said neighbor Michael Popham.
As the memorial grows for three innocent lives lost, neighbors have more tough questions after learning the deaths may have been prevented if a system inside the Gwinnett County jail had been working just a week earlier.
“It makes me very angry. It makes me very sad to think that maybe all of this could have been prevented,” said neighbor Pamela Popham.
“When did you realize mistakes had been made?” asked reporter Jennifer Mayerle.
“That's part of what we're going to be determining in the investigation,” said Stacy Bourbonnais with the sheriff’s department.
Ivan Gonzalez is wanted for the children's murder. Police said they died when a meth lab run by Gonzalez started a fire in their Lilburn home last Thursday. Gonzalez had been arrested just a week earlier. When the jail ran his fingerprints, he came up as a U.S. citizen under an alias he'd used during a previous arrest.
The fingerprint system that should have figured out he was actually Ivan Gonzalez, a man born in Mexico, was down. The Gwinnett County jail had no idea until it was too late.
“The jail was operating that his fingerprints were coming up under that was the only positive ID at the time,” said Bourbonnais.
Police said had the federal fingerprint system been working, Gonzalez would not have been let out of jail before having his immigration status checked. It's possible that at the time of the fire, Gonzalez would still have been in jail and nowhere near the home.
“If it had been up and working and we had received the proper response, it would have been a trigger. It would have been one of the flags that would have helped us,” said Lt. Jon Spear, immigration coordinator for Gwinnett County.
Gonzalez also goes by the alias John McGowan Torres. He has a tattoo of Jesus on his lower leg. Police said they have several leads and believe he's headed for the Mexico border.
http://www.cbsatlanta.com/news/26961142/detail.html
Gwinnett County Sheriff''s Department, "Mistake Was Made"
By Jennifer Mayerle, CBS Atlanta Reporter
POSTED: 11:09 pm EST February 22, 2011
UPDATED: 10:05 am EST February 23, 2011
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -- Tough questions are being raised after learning a finger print system that should have caught an identity discrepancy was down during a crucial check.
The Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Department has launched a full investigation into how it happened. If everything had gone right, it's possible a murder suspect would have still been in custody and not have been able to be free to be anywhere near the house with the children he’s accused of killing.
“It’s frustrating,” said neighbor Michael Popham.
As the memorial grows for three innocent lives lost, neighbors have more tough questions after learning the deaths may have been prevented if a system inside the Gwinnett County jail had been working just a week earlier.
“It makes me very angry. It makes me very sad to think that maybe all of this could have been prevented,” said neighbor Pamela Popham.
“When did you realize mistakes had been made?” asked reporter Jennifer Mayerle.
“That's part of what we're going to be determining in the investigation,” said Stacy Bourbonnais with the sheriff’s department.
Ivan Gonzalez is wanted for the children's murder. Police said they died when a meth lab run by Gonzalez started a fire in their Lilburn home last Thursday. Gonzalez had been arrested just a week earlier. When the jail ran his fingerprints, he came up as a U.S. citizen under an alias he'd used during a previous arrest.
The fingerprint system that should have figured out he was actually Ivan Gonzalez, a man born in Mexico, was down. The Gwinnett County jail had no idea until it was too late.
“The jail was operating that his fingerprints were coming up under that was the only positive ID at the time,” said Bourbonnais.
Police said had the federal fingerprint system been working, Gonzalez would not have been let out of jail before having his immigration status checked. It's possible that at the time of the fire, Gonzalez would still have been in jail and nowhere near the home.
“If it had been up and working and we had received the proper response, it would have been a trigger. It would have been one of the flags that would have helped us,” said Lt. Jon Spear, immigration coordinator for Gwinnett County.
Gonzalez also goes by the alias John McGowan Torres. He has a tattoo of Jesus on his lower leg. Police said they have several leads and believe he's headed for the Mexico border.
http://www.cbsatlanta.com/news/26961142/detail.html