Encyclopedia Dubuque
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STUDENT FINGERPRINTING
STUDENT FINGERPRINTING. Prompted by two high profile cases of kidnapping in Des Moines, the DUBUQUE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION in cooperation with the DUBUQUE POLICE DEPARTMENT and the DUBUQUE COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT initiated a program of voluntary fingerprinting of students.
The fingerprint would provide parents with a permanent identification of their children. Begun in April, 1983 at one of the district's elementary schools, the program focused on students in kindergarten through third grade--ages considered the most vulnerable to kidnapping.
Parents received a letter informing them of the opportunity and they had to agree before a child was printed by a volunteer. The program was expected to be expanded to the other grade schools before the end of the year. Dubuque Catholic schools were planning their own program, but would wait until the end of the pilot program.
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Source:
Gabe, Catherine, "Dubuque Schools Plan Fingerprinting," Telegraph Herald, April 21, 1983, p. 2