FORT MYERS, Fla.-- When Ellerine D. Williams was found dead in her Fort Myers home on June 23rd, her friends discovered her body behind the front door.

Fort Myers Police were investigating the homicide, but it was a Lee County Sheriff's Deputy who confirmed Williams' identity right on scene, thanks to a device that wasn't available to FMPD at the time.

It's called a bio-metric fingerprint scanner.

"We've seen them in use," said Fort Myers Police Lt. Jay Rodriguez, who has seen the Lee County Sheriff's Office fingerprint scanners in action. "Thought it was a great resource to bring to the city of Fort Myers Police Department. (It) cuts back on time dramatically." 

Lt. Rodriguez is the only person on the force using the high-tech tool right now, but he'll start training other officers Friday in hopes of helping them save precious time on the job. 
 
"This machine could narrow down what could be two hours or an hour and a half, to potentially 45 seconds to a minute." 

Lt. Rodriguez says the device is useful in identifying victims of homicides, as it makes it possible to notify the next of kin much sooner. He says the device is also useful during traffic stops, where someone may claim to not have any form of identification, but really they're just concealing the fact that they are driving without a valid license or are wanted on a warrant.

The scanners, which FMPD obtained through a federal government grant, are connected to a local server, which then searches for matches in a statewide database.

If a person is not in the system, the computer will read "no hit" and the scanner will make a series of noises. But if there is a hit, "there's another series of tones, a different type of pattern," explained Lt. Rodriguez.. "Then that will indicate that the officer needs to go back to the computer and check this person."

Lt. Rodriguez has been using his device for 6 months, and he says the margin of error is good.

"The medical examiner still does their 100% comparison, but so far, we're 100%. We've always identified the right person."

FMPD currently has 15 devices, but hopes to get 15 more through future grants.

LCSO has 67 fingerprint scanning units.