BLOOMINGTON - A child-safety event that featured fire trucks, McGruff the Crime Dog and the latest in fingerprint technology brought several hundred families out to Brad Barker Honda on Saturday. | Video

Unlike child-safety events in the past that featured fingerprinting with the traditional ink and cards, the biometric system is less messy and provides a better copy of fingerprints. DNA Lifeprint Inc., a Florida-based company, partnered with the Bloomington dealership to offer DNA kits and biometric fingerprints for about 500 area children.

"About 80 percent of all the children who were fingerprinted (with the cards) don't have a legible set of prints," said Joe Matthews, the founder of DNA Lifeprint. Matthews is a retired homicide detective with the Miami Beach, Fla. Police Department.

With the biometric system, a child's fingers are scanned and the image appears on a computer screen. That way, the fingerprint technician can tell right way if it's a good set of prints.

George Rauch, a fingerprint technician with DNA Lifeprint, said at least seven points of a fingerprint are needed to make a good match.

"This can tell us if there are enough points," Rauch said.

The prints, along with a photograph of the child, are put onto a computer disk and given to the parents.

That way, Rauch said, if a child goes missing, all the information is in one packet that can be turned over to police during what is one of the most stressful situations a parent can face. Because the information is already in a digital format, it can be sent almost immediately to other law enforcement agencies, including the FBI's database.

"It's simple, simple, so police don't have to take the time with faxing anything or scanning anything," Matthews said.

Kaylor Barnlund, 7, said it was "pretty neat" to watch her prints come up on Rauch's computer. Her dad, Erik Barnlund of Normal, was among the more than 50 parents waiting in line about an hour after the program started.

"We came out here, first, because my wife told me to do this," Barnlund said. "And we wanted to do this to be prepared."

General Sales Manager Mike Woolsey said the dealership, 1602 GE Road, was approached by DNA Lifeprint to host the program.

"Brad has always been a strong supporter of the community and we thought this would be a nice public service," Woolsey said.

In addition to the fingerprinting, the event included safety information from the Bloomington police and fire departments.