5-0s get IBIS: License, registration, fingerprint, please

Looks like those carefree days of not carrying an ID around with you in case the fuzz stops you up could be gone soon enough. Civil liberties groups are already up in arms, but we're not sure what took the cops so long; in Minnesota the fuzz have begun testing handheld fingerprint scanners which are wirelessly linked to fingerprint and criminal records databases. Apparently this is going to be rolled out right quick because Identix has dropped the price from
$14,000 to $4,500 for each one of these IBIS (Integrated Biometric Identification System) scanner (which, in case you were wondering, runs MS Pocket PC OS, has an SD slot, and a color 320 x 240 screen). But can we just say that even at that heavily discounted price it smells a lot like government cheese? Because it does, especially when you figure that an off-the-rack Pocket PC with a fingerprint scanner and software won't set you back more than a grand or two at most.