Posted by yoda on June 19, 2004 at 17:21:12:

In Reply to: Arrest posted by Road Runner on June 16, 2004 at 22:44:11:

The Police can take pictures of you and your fingerprints post charge and in some cases prior to charge subject to certain written authorites and conditions

They can be used to implicate/eliminate you from an enquiry/investigation.

More often than not they are taken to prove to identify of someone arrested. If the A PERSON IS ARRESTED and provides a false name and address the fingerprints could be searched against a national database to acsertain their correct identity.These persons may give false name and address as they are wanted for other offences or to frustrate or pervert the course of justice.

futhermore, They are also taken to prove you were arrested and subsequently convicted of an offence. E.G.
joe soap gets arrested, charged and convicted with drink driving.

He is not however joe soap but decided to use the name of a someone he knows and provides his name,address and date of birth.

The Gardai do not always check a suspects details and sometimes charge the suspect under the given details.

The suspect goes to court and is found guilty and never come to notice again.

Unfortunately for Joe Soap he gets arrested for disqualified driving and protests his innocence. In this case the real Joe soap can instruct his solicitor for a court extract and the fingerprints and photographs to prove his innocence.

If you were arrested for an offence and subsequently found to be innocent you can request that the prints be destroyed in your presence. The police cannot make copies of your prints as they would not be admissable in evidence at a later stage.

The police in England work differently and can still keep your fingerprints, Photograph and DNA even if you are cleared of an offence.

I hope this answers the original question

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