The Lehigh Township Central Processing Center
The Lehigh Township Police Department, under the Northampton County Regional Booking Center Plan, operates the Lehigh Township Central Processing Center to serve the law enforcement agencies in the north and western areas of Northampton County. The center was provided through grant funding programs by the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association and Pennsylvania Commission on Crime & Delinquency.
The center provides the ability to positively identify offenders via fingerprints. The center is also linked directly to the Commonwealth Photo Imaging Network, providing investigators access to over 700,000 photos from across the state.
Lehigh Township also implements video technology allowing criminal defendants to appear before a Magisterial District Judge by video to have bail set to facilitate release or commitment to the Northampton County Correctional Facility.
What is a Central Processing Center?
A Central Processing Center is a centralized location which allows easy access to all Law Enforcement Officers to book criminal defendants. By utilizing three state-of-the-art technologies in a secure modern facility, officers are able to return to their respective duties in a shorter period of time, providing greater public safety.
The three Pennsylvania Systems are:
Livescan is an inkless computer system that captures fingerprints from arrested individuals. The fingerprints are electronically submitted to the Pennsylvania State Police Central Repository and a search is made directly to the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS).
The Commonwealth Photo Imaging Network (CPIN) is a statewide computer network that captures and stores digital photographs of arrestees. CPIN allows for unlimited photos to be captured of a suspects face, scars, marks and tattoos. The CPIN system can then create a digital lineup with those photos. The photos and any demographics are almost immediately accessible at all criminal processing centers throughout the state.
Videoconferencing links all District Justice offices in Northampton County with the Central Processing Centers in order to conduct preliminary arraignments. This eliminates unnecessary transport of prisoners. The arrestee remains in the secure facility, eliminating the opportunity to escape. There are currently three (3) Central Processing Centers in Northampton County. The other two locations are Easton Central Processing at the Northampton County Correctional Facility and Bethlehem City Police Department.
Local agencies that use the Lehigh Township Area Central Processing Center:
THE BOOKING PROCESS…
CENTRAL PROCESSING OFFERS…
Where is the Central Processing Center?
The Central Processing Center is located at the headquarters building of the Lehigh Township Police Department, 1043 Municipal Road Walnutport, PA.
How do Police Departments access the Center?
Police park either outside the garage bay area in a designated parking space, or enter the garage bay of the Lehigh Township Police Department. Weapons are stored in secure gun lockers and the defendant(s) are thoroughly searched. Police will then enter the secure processing area using their pass code.