A method of apprehending a criminal, including scanning fingerprint images from a contact area of at least one item at a point-of-sale (POS) location and/or point-of-entry (POE) location and transmitting the fingerprint images to a local or remote electronic device to identify the criminal is presented. A fingerprint recognition and collection device is also presented including a fingerprint scanner for scanning fingerprint images from a contact area of at least one item; a transmitting unit for transmitting the fingerprint images; a receiving unit for receiving the fingerprint images; and an analyzing unit for analyzing the fingerprint images to identify persons of interest. The fingerprint scanner operates concurrently with a price scanner and/or ticket scanner. The fingerprint scanner is fixedly secured at the POS location and/or the POE location and operates concurrently with the price scanner and/or ticket scanner.