Carmen Walling, Western Region SABIS Site Manager
(716) 858-6761
The Statewide Automated Biometric Identification System (SABIS) is comprised of 19 regional, 1 Federal and 3 satellite examination sites that are located in New York State. The main sites are located in Albany at the Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) and NY State Police Headquarters. The Western New York region encompassing several law enforcement agencies throughout the Counties of Erie and Niagara, is served by the Erie County Central Police Services SABIS site, headquartered at the CPS' main office located in the Erie County’s Public Safety Campus at 45 Elm Street - Room 209, Buffalo, New York 14203.
The New York State Criminal History Record (CHRI) Database located in Albany is the primary system for fingerprint and palm print identification.
Use of the Criminal History Record Database is not limited to suspects in custody, licensing or law enforcement applicants. Good quality fingerprint images taken from crime scenes can be traced through SABIS and could result in identifying a suspect who may be responsible for committing a crime under investigation. With fingerprints determined to be a unique individual identifier, the matching of prints taken from a suspect or from the scene of a crime, is a reliable tool used in crime-solving techniques by all Criminal Justice Investigators.
DJCS also provides access to the FBI's IAFIS System through the Remote Fingerprint Editing Software (RFES). This allows for a latent search of the FBI database of all 50 states (over 48 million individuals) after a search of the SABIS database has proven negative. The Western Site became the "pilot" site in November 2000 and prints can now be search from this region.
Fingerprint searches are processed by police investigators and/or the SABIS Site support personnel. The Central Police Services SABIS site is managed by a New York State SABIS Certified Latent Examiner (CSLE). A yearly proficiency test is required by DCJS for one to maintain this certification.