SIMI VALLEY : Program to Prevent Bad Checks Planned

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department and Simi Valley police plan to introduce a fingerprinting program to prevent buyers from passing bad checks, an official said.

Under the plan, store clerks would ask for thumbprints from customers buying more than $200 worth of merchandise, or from those with unprinted checks and drafts drawn from out-of-town banks, Sheriff’s Deputy Chris Lathrop said.

Authorities have contacted merchants at the Oaks and Janss malls and small stores in Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley and Moorpark in hope of launching the program by April 1, Lathrop said. He also plans to contact banks.

Lathrop, a crime prevention specialist, said Thousand Oaks retailers last year lost about $200,000 in merchandise from bad checks.

About 20 communities statewide have instituted fingerprinting programs, he said.

Lathrop said authorities do not get a copy of the thumbprint unless a crime is reported by the bank or store. Law enforcement officials can then tap into a computerized bank of fingerprints.

In communities where merchants fingerprint customers, authorities have reported a drop in forgeries, Lathrop said.

About 15 of the 40 Thousand Oaks retailers contacted said they would institute the program or have asked for more information, he said.

Simi Valley police plan to contact merchants through the Chamber of Commerce, Officer Diane Sliester said.