Original Article Sheriffs fingerprint patrols roll into East Valley By Kristina Davis, Tribune Starting today, motorists may be asked for more than their license and registration if pulled over in the south East Valley. Maricopa County sheriffs deputies will now ask drivers for a thumbprint as Sheriff Joe Arpaio expands his contentious pilot program aimed at fighting identity theft to county islands in east Mesa, Queen Creek, Chandler and Gilbert. Since the program was launched in the West Valley three months ago, 774 fingerprints have been collected, the sheriffs office said. Of those, 294 were randomly selected and scanned in a fingerprint database to search for identity thieves. Eleven hits came back on motorists who provided false identification or stolen identities. Some of those also had warrants or were illegal immigrants. "Even though its voluntary, we feel its been a little eye-opening here," Arpaio said. "Weve been that successful. Were not just going to pick on the west side. Were going to go to the East Valley and see what we come up with for those who give us their prints." Arpaio said 38 percent of the prints run belonged to people with a criminal record. "Thats a high percentage we got back on a random basis. That might mean crooks are bad drivers," Arpaio said. After the prints are run through the database, they are destroyed if there are no matches, he said. By using fingerprints, innocent people can quickly clear their names, he said. The program raised civil liberties concerns when it was launched in February. At the urging of the American Civil Liberties Union, deputies were instructed to provide additional assurance to drivers that the fingerprints were voluntary. "Preliminary research indicates it may be illadvised and ineffective, but it probably doesnt violate the Constitution as long as its voluntary and motorists stopped are very, very clearly advised that it is voluntary and there are no consequences if they refuse," said Eleanor Eisenberg, executive director of the Arizona chapter of the ACLU. Bill Norton, chairman of District 22 Republicans, said the committee still stands by a unanimous resolution it passed in February declaring its objection to the program and calling for all the data to be destroyed within six months. Contact Kristina Davis by email, or phone () -