Foxborough Police Given OK to Fingerprint

Foxborough police got the to fingerprint those applying for certain licenses in tonight.

The fee is expected to be $100 to cover the cost of the process, but could change depending on what the state charges for the fingerprints. The state police will check the applicants criminal file and then submit them to FBI for comparison to federal files. The fine will be $100.

Police Chief Edward O’Leary advocated fingerprinting people for licenses for hawking, peddling, door-to-door salespeople, pawn dealers and hackney drivers.

O’Leary said the fingerprints will be put through a database to indentify those who have criminal records and have false records.

“Only reputable people will be paying the fee,” said O’Leary. “It make it easier to indentify people.”

O’Leary was concerned about people working in Foxborough neighborhoods that he wasn’t comfortable with.

Religious, school, political groups, civic and town organizations won’t be required to be finger printed.

Resident Dennis Naughton spoke out against the article, questioning whether it was nessary and whether he was violating people's rights and saying it was a reaction to September 11, 2001 in the country that, “makes this kind of thing more popular than it should be."

Town Paul DeRensis said the article was constitutional.

The bylaw will also be reviewed by the state’s attorney general’s office.