Navajo company expedites fingerprints

Navajo woman heads firm doing work for FBI, BIAThe FBI and the Bureau of Indian Affairs are working with an Albuquerque company owned and operated by a Navajo woman to expedite fingerprinting and background checks on prospective workers—particularly those who might come into contact with children—for American Indian tribes and tribal organizations.

The FBI has been handling fingerprints submitted through the BIA since 1996. Prints generally were done the old-fashioned way—rolling someone's fingers in ink, rolling the inked prints onto a card, then mailing the cards to the FBI.

Under a new agreement, Personnel Security Consultants Inc., known as PSC, will submit prints by electronic scanner, which will speed up the process for criminal history checks mandated by the Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act.

Michele Justice, the Navajo woman who owns PSC, said her firm will be the go-between that provides fingerprint technical assistance and training services for more than 200 tribes.Comment:  For more on Navajos in business, see Navajos in Emerging 200 Initiative and Native Women Are Entrepreneurs.