Vernon Hills seeing more fingerprint requests

The job of law enforcement is to serve the public, but Vernon Hills police think their generosity in one regard is being exploited.

At issue is the department's policy of providing fingerprinting at no charge, a practice that apparently has become well known outside of town.

"It's not been a problem until recently," Chief Mark Fleischhauer told the village board this week. "Obviously, things have gotten a little bit out of hand."

Fleischhauer explained that because of lawsuits and changes in legislation, many employers - including school and park districts - now require background checks and fingerprints.

That resulted in a bump in requests across the board. But other police departments began to charge for the service. Once word spread that Vernon Hills does not, requests, especially from banks and security and investment firms, increased dramatically, Fleischhauer said.

Nearly 300 individuals were fingerprinted by Vernon Hills police during the first six months of this year.

According to the chief, a group of a dozen individuals recently came to the station and requested fingerprinting. When asked if they lived in town, the response was they worked for a firm in Deerfield and had been instructed to go to Vernon Hills because there was no charge for the service.

"Further inquiries have shown that this was not an isolated incident, but rather a number of firms have realized that we do not charge a fee and are taking advantage of us," Fleischhauer told the village board.

Processing a set of prints takes 10 to 15 minutes, he said. That includes an ID check, paperwork and clean up but not the time an officer is out of service or the drive time back and forth to the station.

The service costs the village about $8,000 annually. To level the playing field, Fleischhauer suggested a $15 fee for nonresidents and employees of private businesses.

He stressed it is not being instituted to produce revenue.

Trustee Barb Williams suggested $30 and other trustees agreed.

"It's a service. If you go somewhere else, you're going to pay for it anyway," she said.

The fee became effective Thursday, but does not apply to residents or those who work for governmental entities or nonprofit organizations in town.

Hours are limited to 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. or 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesdays, and 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturdays.